Happy Birthday, MOM!!!!

Happy Birthday to the best Mom in the entire world!  She has been the most amazing example of the Mama I want to be to my kids.  Every day I realize that I am more and more like her, and you know what?  I’m so glad.  Growing up I thought that I never wanted to be like my parents.  Now I see that everything that they did, all of the hard work and tough, but compassionate unconditional love was exactly how it should be to be a great parent.  I’m well aware that God has blessed me way beyond what I deserve by giving me my mom.  And in turn my children have been blessed with the BEST MEMA EVER!!!!   It might irritate me sometimes to see that I’m turning into my mother, but that’s only my stubbornness coming through since I had “vowed” to never be like her.  Man, when we are young, we are so dumb.  If I could be half the mom she is, my kids will be blessed.  I never saw her rest when I was little, and honestly, I don’t think I can remember her complaining about being tired either.  That’s definitely something I need to work on myself!  She would get up well before the sun, make us all breakfast of our choice, most times we all wanted something different.  I’m not talking about her just putting a piece of bread in the toaster or warming up a pop tart or Eggo waffle.  This amazing woman would scramble us eggs, make French toast, homemade pancakes or biscuits, omelets, you name it!  EVERY SINGLE MORNING before school!  Not only that, she was able to get our difficult bottoms ready for school and on the bus (most times before the sun came up as we had a LONG bus ride living out in the country.)  She was able to get herself and the house ready by the time all of her kids came.  She ran her own at-home daycare.  I, to this day, cannot think of a single person who was/is better at taking care of children who are not her own.  Actually, she felt like every one of those kids were hers and treated them so.  She would spend her entire day not only giving those babies as much attention and care that they deserved and needed, but also she was able to somehow magically get laundry done, the house cleaned up,  beds made EVERY SINGLE DAY, and manage to have homemade baked goodies for us for after school treats and for our lunches.  EVERY NIGHT she would make a delicious home cooked comfort food meal and help us with our homework.  By the time she got us in bed she was tirelessly finishing up cleaning the kitchen and starting her other responsibilities of packing lunches for the next day, planning upcoming activities, etc.  This absolutely amazing woman (there are no real words to describe her) would make us hand crafted toys to play with.  We may not have had a plastic kitchen set like they sell in the stores, but we had a mom who turned a plastic children’s table into an oven and stove with craft supplies around the house!  She sewed us our very own Cabbage Patch dolls.  She sewed us clothes, and she decorated cakes on the side!!!!  Our Halloween costumes were mom and dad created, with my mom crafting them in her “spare time”.  I remember when my sister was a “Dorito’s bag” one year.  This was no cheesy half-assed Doritos bag.  No pun intended.  My mom made her a Chip face mask and created a bag for her body by using two poster boards.  She even found  a way to get a plastic front and put real Doritos inside.  When she could have just drawn squiggly lines for the words on the chip bag, she took the time to write out everything from that bag.  She wanted my sister to have the perfect original costume.  And she sure did!  It was awesome!  That costume is probably still around somewhere.  I even wore it one year as my costume.  These are just a few of the countless things my mom has done, continues to do, and will no doubt do in the future.  You see, now you know what I mean when I say that I hope to be even half the mom she is.  When I was in high school, my mom did something else amazing.  She decided to change careers.  She was brave enough to go and learn something new.  She became a certified Pharmacy Technician.  She trained and studied and she was successful!  I’m so so proud of her for having the courage to try something new.  And now she and my Dad have been on their latest adventure of running my Dad’s construction company where she is the office manager.  She has put her all into every single day of her life.  Recently when she was faced with the obstacle of knee replacement, she confronted it head on and battled through the pain and frustration of not being able to get around like she is used to.  It has been a huge struggle and very difficult, but again, that woman is amazing and is on the up side already.  The doctors have told her the entire time that she’s ahead of the game.  I wouldn’t expect anything less from her.  I want to be JUST LIKE MY MOM when I grow up!

 Mom,

She truly is a ROCK STAR!

I love you so much.  You are such an inspiration to me and my little family.  We wish that we could see you all of the time, but for some reason God has placed us a little ways apart. The distance may not be too far, but our limited time creates a bigger gap.  Perhaps it is so that I can learn on my own to be the mom that I want to be, just like you have always been for me.  I definitely still have those “I want my Mommy days”, and I’m so blessed to know that I can pick up a phone and call you.  Hearing your voice has always helped me when I’m frustrated, sad, mad, happy, excited, etc.  I always want to share my stories with you and you are always willing to listen no matter how ridiculous they are.  You never make me feel like what I have to say is unimportant, even if I’m telling you the same thing for the 100^th time.  You have endless patience that I would LOVE to possess!  While being a part of my MOMS group over the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on relationships, feelings, and friendships among other things regarding motherhood.  I’m coming to realize that not only are you my mom, but one of my BEST FRIENDS!  I don’t know what I would do without you.  I’m so grateful for your spiritual nature.  You have nurtured and taught your children to have a close relationship with God.  You and Dad have definitely succeeded in this God given responsibility.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for being a Mom to Fernando who deserves a Mom just like you!  Thank you for being the most awesome, loving, spoiling Mema that my kids deserve.  I’m missing you just writing this!  When the time comes for me to take care of you like you have taken care of me my whole life, please know that I’m always going to do it with as much patience, love, and care that you have given to Angi, Jon, me, our spouses, and our own babies.  Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Thank You, God for giving us this amazing Mother who obviously has lived her life committed to her children and family similar to Your own Mother.  Please continue to bless her and keep her strong to always follow Your path for her.  Please help us to never take her for granted and to be able to show her all the love and compassion she deserves.  Thank You for the BEST MOM EVER!!!!

Nico TURNS 3!

Nico's SUPER Birthday Bash COMING SOON!....

We're Baaaaaack!

Where can I even begin?  So much has happened since our last post.  The Castañeda Clan has been up to a lot of new exciting adventures.  Among those has been starting preschool (all three of the kiddos) and for Mama, starting teaching preschool.  Max is really enjoying what will definitely be his final year at SMA.  He loves his teachers and has made new friends.  One in particular shares the same interest in a very specific video game that Max is more than obsessed with.  Nico has his best friend in his class.  He is excited every single day he gets to go to school.  Unlike last year when we had tears the first month or so of school, this year he walked right in and enjoys every second of his day.  Belle is LOVING her class as well.  It doesn't hurt that Mama is one of her teachers.  She's the youngest one, but keeps up with the kiddos really well.  She's already learning so much just by watching and interacting with them.  As for me, I love my new job more than any other job I have EVER had (besides raising my own kids).  It doesn't even matter that we've had a crier the entire day or that I have more messes to clean up than usual.  It doesn't even matter that I get paint smudged on the side of my face and it stays there the whole day just because I have no time to clean myself.  I just LOVE it!  Being at the school where all of my kids are and getting to teach Belle is such a blessing.  I can not even explain how awesome it feels to get this opportunity.  



I love being Soccer Mom!

Max has started team soccer practices and had his very first game this morning!  Although, the kids are still in the learning stages of the sport, they did very well!  Max really liked playing offense!  I am very proud of him.  He hung in there and ran his little heart out.  He's one of the smallest on the team, having just turned 5 and his teammates are 5-6 years old.  Papa took on the role of assistant coach.  I'm proud of him too.  Soccer is a passion of his and now he gets to see it lived out through his kids.  Not only that, he's taking an active role in it.  I certainly had my hands full on the sidelines with Nico and Belle.  Belle was such a doll!  She would squeal with delight any time the crowd would clap and she would belt out a holler any time there were calls to cheer on the team.  Nico on the other hand did not seem interested in watching the game.  If you know Nico you would see that he truly believes he is the same age as his brother.  Maybe he says that he's two (almost 3) and Max is five, but he doesn't really understand that there is any kind of difference there. Nico thinks he's just as big as Max and the other players so he doesn't get why he's not in a uniform and playing on the team.  When I tried to explain it to him he told me "Then I'm a coach like Papa.  I'm Coach Nico!"  It was such a struggle keeping him from bolting out onto the field during the game to get to his Papa.  I had my go-to survival stash of snacks, but when that started running low I thought I was in a jam.  However, Fer had so cleverly stashed his iPod in the soccer bag.  That got Nico's attention for a few minutes anyway.  Then he polished off the rest of the snacks and the game was over.  Success!  Of course after the game he felt like he had accomplished something great too and took a team Gatorade and snack.  Max passed so I guess his little brother just took care of that for him.  There are no score keepers, but lets just say that if there were, just maybe our Lightning Bolts came out on top ;)  We really welcomed the wonderful fall weather for his first game.  Afterwards we had victory hamburgers and took a family trip to Lowes.  Our next big family project is already well underway.  We've decided to take on painting some rooms in the house.  We've been here over six years and every now and then we feel the urge to spice things up.  Although we do all of our home improvements and most maintenance ourselves, we really considered hiring someone to do the job this time just to give us a break.  Well that idea went down the toilet when we woke up this morning and just decided today would be the day to make a move on our project list.  We picked our paint colors, stocked up on the supplies we would need, headed home and Fer hit the ground running.  As we speak he's just finished the kids' bathroom and taping off the upstairs hallway.  It's a wonder what a little paint can do to give the place just the little change that it needs.  Usually we trade off painting with child duties, but for some reason this time I've got out of the painting responsibilities this far.  (Hooray!)  Instead Max and Nico took their turns alongside their Papa for the beginning of the painting adventure.  We always give them the opportunity to give our projects a try.  When their turn was over, Fer handed them off to me to bathe them and get them going in other activities to keep them occupied.  It is really difficult to keep them away from their Papa when he's home.  I have such daddy's boys. While the boys were helping their Papa, I worked with Belle on her crawling.  This past week, on Sept. 13 Isabel hit many milestones.  It was incredible what all of a sudden she decided she could do.  She pulled herself up first that day.

This is actually the first time she pulled herself up.
I can't believe I actually caught a milestone on camera!

  Then she signed to me that she was hungry for milk.  Later in the afternoon she crawled for the first time!   She's also starting to let me know when she wants her diaper changed.  She's even already got 6 almost 8 teeth!  My baby girl is over 8 months now and really demonstrating her abilities.  Max has been working with her on her verbal skills.  She loves to repeat the sounds that he makes.  He's the one that got her to say Mama.  Now she even says Ma sometimes, which I can only assume means Max.  She heard me call Nico "Bubba" and she mimicked me.  She sees her Papa and says "Papa" too.  She could just very well be repeating our sounds and really have no clue as to what she is saying, but it's cute and sweet nonetheless!  I am struggling with her growing up though.  She's supposed to be my baby and I need her to stay that way.  I always feel at this age they jump through stages way too fast for me. 

Other than getting the new job started, preparing for school, "Meet the Teacher, the first few weeks of school, and adjusting to the new schedule, we've done several family activities that we've not blogged about.  We've had the very first movie afternoon where all five of us were able to sit down together at one time and enjoy a movie!  It hadn't happened before and it hasn't happened since.  We watched Thomas and the Great Discovery (I think Nico's choice), had Happy Hour Sonic drinks, and I made some delicious homemade popcorn with melted butter!  Of course, Belle had to pass on the Sonic drinks and popcorn, but she was content with her agua and Cheerios. 
We've also enjoyed our final family swim of the summer.  Nico has mastered the back float and Max enjoys swimming around and blowing bubbles in the water.  Belle loves to lounge in her floaty laying her head back and letting the sun shine on her face.  Of course I do all I can to keep the shade of the floaty covering her, she wears her pink sun hat on her head, and she sports her super cool pink shades.   
We made a trip up to see Mema and Pops before Mema had her knee replacement surgery, and we've made another trip up since to visit.  She's so amazing!  She is well on her way to recovery.  It is a lot of hard work, but she puts everything she has into it.  She's been told she's ahead of the game, but I wouldn't expect anything less from  my mom.  She's a fighter and a super strong woman.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  She's going to be running after her grandbabies before we know it.  We will be trying to keep up with her once again. 
We've also been very busy with the steady flow of orders coming into That's Sew Belle.  Sewing has become such a wonderful part of my life.  Being able to turn a hobby into a small home business is a dream come true.  Please check out the tab at the top of our blog home page to see more. 
 

Overall the past month's break from blogging has been one crazy ride packed full of time with my super amazing family.  We are on an exciting journey these next 9 months before our next summer break, but we plan on trying our best to make this time, as we did with the summer, the BEST EVER.  

Castañeda Clan Best Day Ever

As you may have noticed we've undergone a name change for our blog.  "The Castañeda Kids and the Best Day Ever!" has now become "The Castañeda Clan Best Day Ever".  Our family has chosen this name change to better reflect the writings that we do.  Although our stories are about our children, it is more about our family life.  Therefore since we are writing more about our clan as a whole, rather than just the kids, we changed the name.  We hope that you continue to follow us.  All of you inspire us to make each day the best it can be and it is our hopes that we can help do the same for you.  Until we are able to pick back up on writing regularly, we invite you to read some of our previous blog posts that you may have missed.  Our most popular ones are listed at the right.  Lower down on the page are the archives.  If you are new to our blog, we suggest you read "The Thing that Goes Bump! in the Night.  A short but true story", "Angels All Around another short but true story", A Day at Home, or My reasons for Living.  We also suggest that you read the tab titled "Our Story" listed at the top of this page.  We wrote this story so that those who read our blog posts may better understand where they come from.  Thanks for reading!  Have a blessed day!
Peace,
The Castañeda Clan

The Final Days of Summer

We are really gearing up for school now!  Only one week left of summer vacation!  I can't even believe how fast this summer has gone!  Papa turned 30, Max turned 5, Mama turned 29, Nico's well on his way with potty training, and Belle is ready to crawl!  It won't be long for her now!  We've had a Sea World vacation, SMA summer camp, Religious Education marathon, swimming, a nice long visit with Cousin Jack, Firefighter appreciation, birthday party after birthday party, our own family Olympics, Science Day at a friend's house, visits to the library, play dates, not to mention some of the best times spending time together at home.  And that's only a little of what we did.  Phew I'm exhausted!  Our goal this summer was to make it the best that we possibly could, especially since last summer was pretty much a bust for the boys with me being preggers and sick EVERY DAY ALL DAY!  I'm proud of us for doing most everything we wanted to do and much much more!  I'm thankful that the Science day worked out at a friend's house because that was the one thing we wanted to host but were unable to find a good time.  We will be blogging on a limited basis for an indefinite amount of time while we get adjusted to our new school schedule.  We've got Max starting his Pre-K 5 class, Nico getting ready for his 2's class, and Belle excited about attending her first class with the Babies at St. Michael Academy.  I've been blessed with a teaching position at their preschool so I will get to spend Max's final year with him and Belle's first year with her.  Even more of a blessing, I was hired to teach Belle's class!  We have three kids in Preschool.  THREE!  I just can't believe it.  The past six years of my life have been the most joyous with this past 6 months being the fastest.  I guess it is true what they say, "Time flies when you are having fun!"  This reminds me of something Max said one evening this week when finding out it was already dinner time.  "Mama, why do the days go so fast?  I just want it to go slow!"  I took it as one of the highest complements I could receive from my kid.

I wanted to highlight a few of the things that we did this week.  The biggest highlight of the week was my trip to the dentist, of course!  Okay, no not really.  I actually dread that every time I have to go, but the people are very nice there so that makes it a more pleasurable experience.  The actual biggest thing that happened this week goes to Nico.  His first poo in the potty!!!  Whoop Whoop!  I won't dwell on the details, but we are proud of him.  I've been doing a LOT of sewing for That's Sew Belle, which always brings me joy.  Fer's taken on the blog job of creating picture collages, making my life a little bit easier, and he's been excited about the idea.  Max has been, well Max, with his awesome imaginative personality, creating never a dull moment.  Belle's been working on her crawling muscles.  She's almost there (not that I want her too.)

Tuesday we decided to get out of the house and go outdoors.  Even though it was rather toasty, we just couldn't stay couped up and we didn't really have any special place we wanted to go.  Since I'm using the garage clothesline for drying our large laundry items, I needed to be out there to hang a load anyway.  I moved out the minivan, brought out the toys , large rolls of plotter paper, markers, crayons, race cars,etc. and had a grand ole' time.  We are "forced" into using our garage as our backyard since we do not have a backyard.  We do have an alley, but with the two hyper boys and a baby to keep track of, sometimes it is best to get out my trusty little orange cones to block off a space for them to play.  I don't know what it is about those orange cones, but they usually stay within the perimeters.  Of course, it isn't a day in the life of the Castaneda Clan without a little bit of drama.  So Nico decides that he wants me to change his diaper (he's still not completely potty trained), but Belle was playing contently on our lovely "race track" we had created on plotter paper attached to the garage floor.  I asked Max if he would please run inside to get a diaper and some wipes for me to use on his brother so that I wouldn't have to move everybody inside.  Max being the awesome kid he is did so willingly, only he told me that I better not tell anyone that I was changing his brothers' diaper in the garage (where no one could see).  He told me that he didn't want me to get arrested....Anyway, I guess his hands were a little too full when he came back outside.  He was carrying toys in one hand and the diaper and wipes in the other.  I suppose when he pulled the door closed he accidentally moved the lock.  And guess what?  Thirty minutes later when it was time for me to start making their lunch, I couldn't get the door open.  Yes, we were locked out!  No, we didn't have a spare key...Thankfully I had my cell phone on me, which is not always the case when we go outside.  The poor hubby had to spend his lunch break driving all the way home and letting us inside.  Of course, we had to wait for him to finish a meeting, and then I still had to fix lunch when we got inside, but nonetheless, we were not outside the entire day baking.  We may have been hot and hungry by the time we got inside, but the boys were still insistent that we have the picnic I had planned for us (before getting locked out).  So no cooling off for us.  I quickly prepared lunch and we all trekked back outside for a picnic.  By the time we made it back in we were all pretty much done for the day...well I know I was.  I learned a very valuable lesson though.  NEVER GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT KEYS!  Also, I think it would be wise for someone close by to have a spare so we don't have to bake so long next time.  Because who am I kidding, I'm prone to make little mistakes like this. 

Wednesday we spent some time at the library and attending Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We had only a little time between the library and Mass so the boys thought it was "super cool" when I picked them up some lunch, parked the minivan  in the church parking lot, and had a picnic in the car with our windows rolled down.  The day was overcast and rather pleasant.  


Their personalities are very apparent in this photo!  Our session was interesting.  Max with his sweet seriousness, Nico with his hilarious pretend distressed look, and Belle with her beautiful happy smiles.


Thursday I got to work in my classroom while the kiddos went to the church nursery.  I'm getting so excited about teaching!  I'm a little nervous and a tiny bit scared too, but overall just really happy for this opportunity!  In the afternoon we played all kinds of things, but one of the things that stands out the most with me was when we were playing "Mario pirates".  I got to be Mario Pirate (per Max's instructions) while Max was Luigi Pirate.  Nico was going about the room as if he was a bad guy, so in my best pirate voice I said to him, "Arrrrr, are ye the scoundrel?"  Nico's response in the best pirate imitation this 2 1/2 year old could do (which was really rather good), "No, I'm not a scoundrel!!!  I'm just an angry boy!!!"  All the while he's smiling from ear to ear.  He then continued to thrust his glowing rainbow Skittles wand into the air as if it was his pirate sword.  Maybe you had to be there to really get the full effect, but it was greatness. 

Friday we had a wonderful adventure outside in our neighborhood.  I will be blogging about this adventure in another post coming later this week:  The Quest for the Fountain of Red and Blue.  It was somewhat inspired by our newest found form of entertainment "Where's Waldo?"  We have spent hours looking at this one book that we checked out from the library.  When I was younger I would look at these books while waiting on my sister at the Orthodontist's office and then later when I was a patient there myself.  Fer actually did the same thing when he was younger, looking at them at his dentist's office.  I LOVE these books.  I had forgotten about them and then as we were headed out of the library on Wednesday, I caught sight of a group of them out of the corner of my eye.  I was ecstatic!  The boys probably thought I was nuts, but what's new there?  We've been looking through it ever since.  We can't wait to pick up another book the next time we go back! 

This weekend provided for some much needed family time.  We miss Papa so much during the week when he's at work.  It's so nice when we can all spend time together.  Well...I did get to sneak out one day for fabric shopping and the next day for some school clothes shopping, but other than those few hours, we got to spend some awesome quality time.  Saturday evening we were blessed with a downpour (or as my Dad always called it when I was a kid, "downburst").  The kids were so fascinated by the heavy rains that they sat mesmerized by our storm door watching for a long time.  I taught the kids the song "Rain Rain Go Away" which they thought was quite humorous for some reason.  I guess I should have been teaching them "It's Raining, It's Pouring" instead since we really didn't want the rain to go away.  And then in the song, little Johnny wanted to play outside so he wanted to rain to go away, but in our case, because it was raining Fer let the boys go out back and run around in the rain!  While I was giving the baby her bath I heard some very loud happy squealing coming from behind the house.  When I looked outside I was surprised (only a little) that it was coming from my boys who were half dressed playing in the rain.  I think they will always remember doing that.  Belle and I brought the boys some towels to dry off and we heading back upstairs so I could put her to bed, only to hear the boys run back outside for more excitement.  How great it must be to be a kid.  And the sad part is, when we are kids we just want to be grown up.  Go figure.


We aren't slacking off these final days of summer, and we hope to continue with fun family adventures even with school in session.  My boys are at the age where school is fun anyway! They can't wait to go back, see their friends, and make new ones.  Continue to look for our adventures throughout the school year.  We'll be making new memories every day and we are hoping to share them with you!

BEST last DAYS of Summer EVER! 

Playing with their laptops

Batman and Lefty decided they  needed to do some quick coloring before bedtime.

Our princess loves to play with hair. 

Belle was such a trooper while I did a mini photo session with the kids on Friday.

Just some light reading..."It wasn't me!"

The Greatest Show on Earth

Hi there…today you may notice some changes in the writing style of this amazing blog “The Castaneda Kids and the Best Day Ever”.  As we are getting closer to the end of the summer, the time to spice things up has come! I mean really hot, like with those jalapeños from the hot dog stand at the American Airlines center (LOL). Today it’s time for Fernando to delight you with the amazing story of the “Greatest Show on Earth”.

We had a good start in the morning.  As always, it started with some coffee and there was some toast for Jen and me. The kids enjoyed their cereal and fresh fruit. Since I don’t get to feed Belle so often during the week because she is either still asleep before I go to work, or she has already eaten her dinner when I come back from work, I took the opportunity to do so.  She enjoyed her cereal and I enjoyed feeding her as I have gotten to do for the last two weekends. It is amazing how she hums on every bite.

After eating enough food, we started getting ready for the “Greatest Show on Earth”, aka, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus at the AA center. The soccer Olympics game between Mexico and Brazil for the gold medal started that morning. As you may know, I am huge Mexico soccer fan and especially loyal to my hometown team Santos Laguna. Unfortunately I had to record it so I could focus on the kids and finish getting ready. Not a big a deal I thought. 

We learned from last year going to the circus that the food was not good for the kids. The AA center was super expensive and after buying all the food, they did not even want to taste it. So this time we decided to get their lunch packed so they could eat on the car ride to the AA Center. It worked just fine; they had some edemames from Sam’s club and some turkey pepperonis. FYI for all parents, Edemames are super good for kids (and for you). These soy beans are loaded with protein and antioxidants. If your kids do not eat vegetables, get some of these steamable bags at the store and let your kids try it. We have successfully introduced edemames to our nephew and to some of our friends’ kids. So there, no more excuses.

For dessert we had to smuggle some peanuts with M&Ms for the boys. For Belle we had her baby stuff, so she was all set. However, for us the food situation was looking unfavorable. Jen and I decided we would eat lunch at the AA center, and guess what?  We ended up paying for it twice! The first time went to the credit card and the second time went to el baño! =(…. We shared a “Big D” package which is basically a 1 foot long hot dog and a large tray of nachos loaded with lots of jalapeños and a large soda. Since I am allergic to the fake cheese of the nachos, I just ate the chips with jalapeños. Anyway, afterwards we did not feel very well. As I remember last year, we did the exact same thing and unfortunately I had the exact same results. But because Jen was pregnant I believe she could have had more.  So I guess as an adult it is harder to learn new lessons. I am sure you may recall some of these =).

Other than the food being no so good, the show was great, we had really good seats, however we also learned this time that aisle seats would work much better for our family. When we take our kids to events like this, I really want them to enjoy themselves and I love to treat them with things. This time it was so hard to even take them to the bathroom because we were in the middle of a row and there were a lot of people both ways. But going back to the show, the coolest thing we enjoyed was a guy that was lit on fire and then was shot through the air in a big catapult…which reminds me of the time I thought I was spontaneously combusting…but that is for another time.  There was a pretty cool elephant show, as well as “the jumping guys”, as Nico called them.  Both were pretty cool.  They had a very colorful show and very kid friendly environment. I think the kids loved it.  Although Belle ended up sleeping through the entire thing.

Another highlight of the day was the snow cones. The boys really love snow cones. Last year at the circus we were a little smarter, we let the boys share one elephant head snow cone and it worked just fine. This time they had ended up with a clown head snow cone for each one. Nico spilled half of it and Max only ate half of his. However, they still seemed very happy with it so I was happy too.

After the “Greatest Show on Earth” was over we came back home to finish watching the soccer game which was turned out to be the real “greatest show”! I managed to stay away from the media and Facebook during the day so I didn’t know who had won.   We watched the game at home as a family, however most of time I just stood in front of the TV supporting the team and yelling at it. It was an epic game. Through the entire game I felt so nervous, but Mexico did a GREAT job and managed to defeat Brazil!! The score ended 2-1. This was, and still is, a BIG BIG deal. I mean when the referee ended the game and Mexico had won the gold medal, I felt a big knot on my throat and pressure in my eyes. I ALMOST CRIED!! I am serious; I really could not believe it. I have supported Mexico’s team since I was a little kid and Mexico always plays like “never before”, but ends up always  losing. But not today, not this Saturday. Today everything changed. Mexico made history in the books and in my heart! Mexico won its first International Soccer Championship. They won the GOLD!  This was the real “Greatest Show on Earth” and the BEST DAY EVER for a circus fan and Mexico fan.

Simply Amazing Science Day

We've been wanting to host a Science day for quite some time now.  In fact, it was one of our summer bucket list activities.  However, the summer is just slipping by so quickly and it has not worked out yet at our home.  So when we were invited to a Science day by a family friend, we could NOT pass it up!  I've had the 80's song "She Blinded me with Science" by Thomas Dolby in my head all day long.  I realize that it doesn't exactly have anything to do with actual science experiments, but it's a classic nonetheless...well to my 80's rockin' family anyway.  Our friend is a high school Pre-AP chemistry teacher, so I knew that my kids would not only get the experiments, but a wonderfully educated explanation of what was going on as well.  I couldn't have asked for better.  It was awesome!  I'm not sure I would have had the answers for the kids if I would have done them myself.  The kids were able to enjoy an erupting volcano (baking soda and vinegar).  Our friend and her boys (the same ages as mine) had made a paper mache volcano earlier in the summer.  It was set up out in the back yard ready to go when we got there.  Each child got to use food coloring of their choice to tint their very own plastic cup of vinegar.  

Sonya adding the baking soda

After the baking soda was in place inside of the volcano, the kids got to take turns pouring their cup of vinegar inside to see the reaction.  The "volcano" erupted "lava"!  The bubbles are created by the carbon dioxide escaping the water solution.  (I so hope I said this right because my nerdy self took chemistry way too many years ago and although I LOVE LOVE LOVE chemistry, it doesn't mean I retained much).  I tried to listen to the Teach today, but I did have three kids I was juggling (plus a swarm of bees I was fighting).

Max already poured his vinegar inside and is watching the reaction



Nico's supposed to be pouring in his vinegar...only he just poured it on top

 

Erupting volcano experiment.

 

Sonya, if you read this and any of my Scientific explanations are incorrect, please comment or send me a message and I will fix immediately.  Thanks so much!

We then headed out front (to try to escape the swarm of bees) for the kids to create their own Alka-Seltzer film canister rocket.  The kids put half a tablet of Alka-Seltzer into a film canister, added water, put on the lid, quickly set it on the ground (and backed away for safety), and watched the "rocket" shoot into the air.  The kids then tried to catch their rocket on its way back down.  The carbon dioxide gas produced from the Alka-Seltzer in the water builds up so much pressure that it "launches".  Awesome!  Except I just about missed Nico's turn because I was trying to fight off bees from my baby!  I really think those bees could smell fear.  No one else was really bothered too much by them, but I guess I've discovered a new phobia.  I haven't been this way around bees before, but my kids have not been stung and I really did NOT want to EXPERIMENT with that!  

Nico doing the "rocket" experiment



Max getting ready to launch his "rocket"



We then went inside for some cooler play time.  The kids had so much fun playing with anything and everything.  They would blow in and out of each room with something new each time.  It's always so nice to take the kids somewhere they haven't been in a while so that they can experience a different environment and different toys.  It had been a long time since these kids had gotten together, but they played so well!  I was completely impressed with them.  There was no shyness and limited fighting.  I would say that is awesome for these boys!  After lunch the experimenting continued with "Elephant toothpaste".  I am not even going to try to explain this one except that the reaction creates what looks like a giant stream of toothpaste.  Google search "elephant toothpaste" for a detailed explanation.  My baby girl had fallen asleep after lunch while I was holding her.  Since it was loud in the house from all the kids I stood clear of the experiment.  However, I did sneak a peak and it looked awesome!!!  I just missed the explanation of it.  After that some of the kids made ice cream in a plastic bag (which I missed the "recipe" and explanation on this also).  My boys didn't want to participate in this, but of course after the ice cream was complete and the chocolate syrup was brought out, they just happened to decide they would like to join in on the activity.  In fact, when we got home and we were discussing the awesomeness of the day, Nico revealed to me that his favorite scientific experiment today was "eating ice cream!" with Max chipping in with "yeah! with lots and lots of chocolate syrup!"  Gotta love kids!

You know, seeing my kids learning about science and enjoying it brings me way back to when I was young.  My brother and I would watch Bill Nye the Science Guy and Beakman's World (back in the 90's).  Good times, good times.  They made science so much fun!  And contrary to popular belief, Bill Nye is still alive and kicking, although he's been subject to several death rumors over the years.  I don't know if anyone remembers Beakman's World, but kids would write in with questions and each episode would focus on a few of those questions.  During the episode Beakman and his team would give the scientific explanations.  I'll always remember the episode of Beakman's World when they explained flatulence, including singing a very elaborate song that could only be titled "Flatulence, man-made Turbulence".  I know, I know, why do I remember that?  I guess it was just too funny at the time. I did my trusty little Google searching and found out that the name of the episode is "Fingerprints, Beakmania and Flatulence" from Season 4, Episode 26, Aired Mar 17, 1995.  Crazy that of all things, this sticks out in my mind.  I Googled it because I wanted to make sure I wasn't just making things up in my mind.     Maybe the song was catchy....perhaps I'll search YouTube next.  Come to think of it, Bill Nye the Science Guy had a pretty catchy theme song as well.  Anything that can bring me back to the simpler times of my childhood is welcomed.     

After such a wonderful, fun filled day of Science, it makes me very eager to hunt down more that we can do.  Maybe I'll even get around to that Science day I've been wanting to host myself.  But if not, I'm sure the boys and I will be experimenting around the house on our own.  I'm hoping my "engineer-brained" Max will be intrigued by Chemistry too.  If anyone has some really cool science experiment ideas for kids, please send them our way.  We would LOVE to test them out.  Thanks to the Loughrans for a truly awesome day.  We had a blast and hope to do it again soon!

Aunt Lisa and Cousin Lucy joined in on the fun too!

BEST Science DAY EVER!

An "Oatmeal in my hair", "Chances", potty training, Cheerios Day

I had an "Oatmeal in my hair" kind of morning.  You know (or maybe you don't know) when you are finally finding that second in the morning to kinda maybe brush your hair (if you're lucky), and then your kid calls out to you for something so instead of brushing your hair you just get a ponytail holder and throw it up as fast as you can with the intentions of coming back to it in your next spare minute?  Only when that next spare minute arrived,oh maybe, an hour or so later, you just so happen to glance in the mirror and notice that you had your breakfast in it!  I DO!  I will say, oatmeal is NOT easy to get out of unbrushed, disastrously frizzy, curly hair.  So I just picked it out as best I could while another kid was calling out to me and I just moved on.  Sigh.  Yes, this was how the morning went.  I took a couple of phone calls to a bathroom and locked myself in because of loud out-of-control temper tantrums.  And I don't seem to be alone.  I heard of several accounts of crazy, unfortunate mornings.  Anyone know if a full moon is coming?  Or it could just be a bad case of the summer-is-coming-to-a-close-soons?  Well, whatever it is, our house had it pretty bad this morning.  But as chaotic and annoying as the first 3 1/2 hours of our day was, before lunch we were successful in turning it around.  That miracle came out of no where, but I gladly accepted it.  I really don't even know what flipped the switch.  It was like one moment, insanity, the next, we were all co-existing beautifully.  And then we had a very limited number of pathetic meltdowns the rest of the day!  All three of the kids were in chipper moods, and we were all able to play peacefully!  Well, as peacefully as three kids 5 years and under can do.  Whoop whoop!  
Today, I discovered yet another way to easily get chores completed by my five year old.  I guess his Papa had a talk with him about earning and losing "chances" for things a week or so ago because he's been questioning me on how he can earn chances to do things.  Mostly he is wanting chances to play his Super Mario Bros. video game.  I'm SO SO SO glad that I have been very strict on limiting his game play to every once in a while and not even every week because it has come in handy as a "chance getter".  As we implement this system, he may be playing the game more often, but I'll still limit the amount of time (but it will NOT be every day).  I have to keep it special in order for it to work.  Anyway, he keeps asking me how many chances he has until he can play the game.  I had just been telling him to be good, play nice, follow the rules, etc. and I would let him know when he had enough.  That didn't work for him.  He's the type that needs a number.  So I just threw a number out there.  I said you need 6 chances.  That got a lot of whining and I instantly said, "Uh oh...we're about to lose a chance!" and he immediately ceased!  It was magic!  He told me that he understood the things that made him lose a chance, so he asked me what he could do to gain chances.  I gave him a quick list of things, for instance, clean his room, help with laundry, share his toys, etc.  He turned around and did everything he could on the list.  He even called down the stairs to me to ask if he could have an extra chance if he picked up his sister's toys in her room.  I couldn't turn that down so of course I accepted that.  I want him to know that I'm serious about him following rules and behaving so I gave him as many opportunities as I could today to gain his "chances".  I wanted him to succeed so that he would feel confident with this new reward system  He succeeded beautifully, and my house ended up really neat!  We also had a wonderful time working in his preschool activity learning book which gained him a "chance" as well.  He is getting so smart!  He also told me that even though he had thought that six chances was an unreachable number, he decided in the end that it was so easy to do!  (He might have made a mistake there, if I was a smart Mama I'd increase the number now before it becomes a set number and the plan backfires on me.)  The timing worked out perfectly to where Belle went down for nap, Nico got tired so he decided to rest with a movie, and Max and I were able to play the game together.  I think a lot of the reward (for both of us) was the special time we got to spend playing a game that he loves (and a game I loved as a kid).  He even told me, "Mama, I want you to be Mario because you said that you were Luigi a lot when you were little because Uncle Jon was always Mario."  My kid is so thoughtful and has such a big heart.  He doesn't need to know that I enjoyed being Luigi when I was younger.

We did a lot of other things today too.  Max decided that the outside would be "inside" and the inside was really "outside".  They crawled under the dining room table (I obviously swept the floor really good first).  They brought along a flashlight, radio, markers, paper, and a book.  They played under there for quite some time pretending it was their camp.  Max flipped through the book, "I'm a Big Brother", flashing his light across the words, but making up his own story aloud while Nico colored with markers. 

Belle did something big today.  She practiced eating Cheerios for the first time.  She hasn't ever had anything other than her rice or oatmeal cereals and a few different vegetables, but I wanted to see how she would do.  She really enjoyed playing with the Cheerios.  She needs more practice, but was able to pick up a couple of them.  I'm not sure if she was ever successful in putting them in her mouth herself, but the ones I tried to feed her, she thought were interesting.  She gummed them to death, and then either spit it out or made the cutest little face and swallowed it.  She has a little more growing up to do before she gets foods like that all the time, but it was a good practice day for her.  I also used it as a learning opportunity for teaching the boys about the things that can go in her mouth and things that can't.  I'm getting really nervous about her getting mobile and the boys' small toys being at her reach.  I really hope that Nico understood the lesson because he was having the best time feeding her the cereal.  Although that ended very quickly when I  discovered he was putting more than one in her mouth at once.  I think it is important for the boys to be involved with their sister and to understand that as she gets older and grows, she discovers new things and is capable of much more, but at the same time, I have to watch them like a hawk!  Sometimes they are a little too eager to help teach her things.  They are fascinated by her and I really hope it stays that way.  I want her to always have her two really awesome big brothers looking out for her.  I think she will though.  My kids are pretty amazing if I don't say so myself! 

Nico was A-W-E-S-O-M-E today with potty training!  As you may recall in a past post I mentioned that we had begun potty training by taking him at his bath time before bed.  Today for the very first time ever, he told me that he needed to "pause" what he was doing because he needed to use the potty.  I got excited and stood up to take him, but he told me to "sit down", he could go by himself.  I really really really wanted to believe him, but I told him that I would like to join him and surprisingly he let me without a fuss.  We went inside the bathroom, I got his diaper off, sat him on the big potty and he just went like he does it all the time!!!  I couldn't contain my excitement for him.  I was jumping up and down and hugging him like crazy.  I was so proud and I could tell he was so proud of himself too.  I rewarded him by letting him wear a Woody and Buzz Lightyear pull-up.  It has a symbol on the front that will signal if the pull-up is getting wet.  I had every intention of checking on it from time to time, but I didn't have to.  Nico came to me and told me that he thought that he was "messing up" the picture on the front and that he better go to the bathroom.  When we got there and on the potty, he successfully went again!!!!  Another proud moment.  This time he asked for a blue prize.  I'm not sure where that came from, but I wanted to honor that choice.  I found him a Ring Pop with a blue ring for him to enjoy.  He and I were so happy, and we couldn't stop grinning.

The three kids and I went on a "Bear Hunt" today.  I have no clue where the idea came from, but I decided to google the lyrics for the song "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and the kids and I acted it out a couple of times.  It's a great song because the kids would repeat a line that I would say first and we were able to make up some movements with it.  Add in a little acting and goofing around and we had a great time!  They said they wanted to do it again when Papa got home (oops, we forgot) and again on another day.  Of course, when we were finished, I must have gotten distracted (probably I had to get something for the boys from the kitchen) and I left the print-outs on the floor beside the baby.  I came back just seconds later and one of the pages had been ripped to shreds.  Baby girl works fast!  Guess I'll be printing that off again! 

Overall the "Oatmeal in my hair" kind of morning had no effect on how the rest of the day played out.  You know, some of that oatmeal may very well still be in there somewhere, but we didn't let that or any of the other "messy" moments spoil our day.  In fact, this afternoon was one the BEST we've had yet this Summer!

Max built this trophy with nothing more than his imagination.

Then he decided to improve on it!  Gotta love the wheels!

  

The original Matching game.
Anyone else hate matching socks with the passion that I do?
This was part of the blahness of our morning, but when it was
complete it added to the greatness the rest of the day became.