Fun with Auntie and Uncle

We've had a ton of fun so far with Auntie and Uncle visiting. Last night we continued the tradition of carving pumpkins together and they turned out great.

We're also looking forward to throwing them away in the woods. Last year the deer loved to eat them, including a huge buck.

Then, Auntie and Uncle watched Starshine and Jr. Princess today while we were at work, and I cam to the most fabulous spooky signs all over the house. These are my favorites:




Now it's time to get ready for trick or treating, so hopefully we'll probably have lots of cute pictures tomorrow.

I carved a pumpkin.

Wow - that was typed with a huge dose of pout. I sure hope we can get through trick or treating without a meltdown :).

Fun Videos

The girls wanted to share some more videos.

Here is Jr. Princess singing her new favorite song "Months of the Year"

and here is Starshine teaching you about her school's BEST rules:

Body Posture, Eye Contact, Silence, (Hands) To Yourself

Sounds like good rules to me.

I can't wait to see auntie and uncle on Halloween

Apples and Halloween Fun

We started Saturday with a trip to the neighborhood apple orchard. M&M Dad was super excited because his favorite apple (Regent) was finally available. Sadly, though, it signals the end of the season and we won't have many more days of delicious apples.



We then went for a fun Halloween party at my work. The kids got to try out their costumes a week early, eat treats, play games, make crafts, and walk in a costume parade. (Starshine was wondering why they called it a parade because their was no music and pretty much no one was paying attention and I agreed - pretty lame!) The rest was a lot of fun. There was also face painting - and they were hands down the most talented I have ever seen.


Jr. Princess said her favorite part of the weekend was "sleeping with Gwamma and watching a show with Gwampa"

I liked sleeping with Grandma. I liked watching Madagascar with grandpa.

We all had a nice time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa M.

My favorite quote of the day came from Jr. Princess when Grandma asked if she could play Elefun: "No, it will mess up your hair." Hee Hee - apparently Grandma had said earlier that she couldn't have a pillow fight because she didn't want to mess up her hair.

Grandma and Grandpa M are here!

Yeah - today Grandma and Grandpa M came to visit. Starshine was excited when she got to show them her classroom.
They played fun games...

And Grandpa M had a scary tic-tac-toe game on his computer.
We're looking forward to a fun weekend.
It was fun when they came.

For Pink Mom

Not much exciting to report today, but with Pink Mom in California we wanted to post a few pictures to maker her smile. Starshine had Math homework tonight and did a great job with coin counting. She also started reading a new Pixie book.


Not to be outdone, Jr Princess also got some important coloring work in. She is excited about the Fall Festival at school tomorrow.

We love you Pink Mom. Have a safe trip and we will see you tomorrow.

Quiet Day at Home

Well, sadly it is the last day of our Staycation. We decided to spend a quiet day at home relaxing before we head back to school and work (especially since I'm getting over a cold and M&M Dad seems to be getting one). Starshine wanted her best friend to come over. Most people would think, "gee, wouldn't 3 kids make more chaos on a quiet day than 2?" Well, not when Best Friend comes over. Seriously, M&M Dad and I realized today it's actually less work for us when she's here because the three girls disappear and play together for hours!

They came out of Starshine's room briefly to play Twister...

Jr. Princess didn't quite understand...


Then, right before we drove Best Friend home we did an outdoor obstacle course, which is a favorite activity that M&M Dad invented for inside on cold/icky days. Obviously we got to change the activities a little...

The girls had lots of fun!
Well, I am off to California for a few days of work, so hopefully M&M Dad (with Starshine's help) will keep on blogging.

Fun Dinner and Volleyball Night

We had a fun time on Friday.

First, Starshine stayed home with Mom and Dad because school was still out, and we spent a little time cleaning closets. Then, when she could finally play - here is what she picked...
She has only been out of school one day, and she wanted to play school! (Of course, this time she gets to be teacher to all of her animal friends).

We then went to dinner for the first time at Midtown Market, which has lots of great ethnic groceries and restaurants. Starshine loved the musician playing "Puff the Magic Dragon" near the tables. The girls were great about trying lots of different foods, drink and treats - we will definitely go back.

Then, we went over to the U of M to watch a volleyball match. Starshine loves volleyball, and she posed for a picture with a poster of her favorite player - Lauren. I'm hoping she falls in love with another sport, because chances are Starshine will never be 6 feet tall :).
Jr. Princess loves to see Goldy - and she loves to climb to the top of the arena. (Which is a nice distraction when she starts to lose focus).

I love that Minnesota won that volleyball game.

Starshine's Special Day

Today, Starshine was off from school because of teachers' convention so she got to have her own special day. After much deliberating over numerous possibilities (MN Zoo to see the Dolphins, Underwater Aquarium, swimming like Jr. Princess, etc.), she decided on all of the rides at Mall of America! We have never done this before so we were all very excited.

So, we dropped Jr. Princess off at daycare so Starshine could have her own solo day with Mom and Dad, and we headed off to Taco Bell to pick up a coupon for Nickelodeon Universe. When we reached Taco Bell, we realized we had a coupon for a free Strawberry Fruilati in our Entertainment book - yeah treats in the morning!

She loved all the rides - especially the log ride, the bus ride, and the spooky ghost ride because we got to shoot ghosts with guns to score points (quite scandalous for the 6 year old who isn't allowed to have toy guns).

Starshine was a trooper, trying all kinds of different rides. I, however, felt a bit nauseous after the swings. It's tough getting old.

Afterward, we left to pick up Jr. Princess and all had ice cream at McDonald's.

We had an awesome day - and Mom and Dad are now officially exhausted. Seriously - I think I fell asleep in the car on the way to pick up Jr. Princess and M&M Dad actually says he won't run tonight (I'll believe it when I see it).

I had a shake. I love mall of america.

School Conferences

As many of you know, Starshine loves school so we were expecting a very positive conference today - and we weren't disappointed. Her teacher is very pleased with her love for reading (her reading skill level is WELL above median), her good handwriting (especially being a leftie) and good attitude. She has also made new friends, which was a small concern of ours because none of her Kindergarten friends ended up in her class this year. Overall - she's a great kid to have in class!

The only downside of her superstar reading status is she seems to think everything should be easy for her, and therefore gets frustrated easily with math. So, we're going to be working on her postitive attitude towards math. (Because, let's face it, I may cry if she decides she hates math!)

But, we'll save working on it for later this weekend, because she now has 4 days off for teachers convention, and a super special day with Mom and Dad tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get lots of great photos to share with you all.

P.S. Jr. Princess loved coming to conferences because she got to work on her own "homework" sitting at Starshine's desk while we met with the teacher. Seriously - she would start school now if they would let her!

Grandma and Grandpa L. Here!

Today Grandma and Grandpa L came to visit on their way down to Arizona. The girls were very excited when G&G came to pick them up from school.

Starshine even got to show G&G L her desk.

Then we went on a fun walk to the apple orchard, and came back to pose for some family photos.

What a fun night!

I was happy because they could come.

Jr. Princess's Special Day

Today, Jr. Princess's school was closed for teacher training, so she got to have a special day with Mom and Dad. (Starshine will get her own Special Day on Thursday when she is off for teachers' convention.)

Jr. Princess got to pick what she wanted to do...

First - Swimming!

Second - Lunch. She could not comprehend that we just had an ice cream sundae for lunch (they are so well trained on healthy body choices!).Third - rest time with Mommy

Fourth - build a block tower (not sure why this made the list).

Needless to say, we all had a wonderful time. And Starshine's head is now swimming with possibilities for her special day!

I hope she had fun.

Four Wheelin' Fun

Internet Safety Update:
Good work Auntie and Grandma and Grandpa L for changing your screen name to not use real names.

Though, Starshine did notice right away that you both used real names in your comments so we had to delete them. (Good work Grandma L for noticing and reposting using nicknames.)

We think Grandma and Grandpa L are great names for the blog, but if you would prefer fancy made up Lauren nicknames, she recommends Grandpa be peanut butter and Grandma be jelly :).

Auntie and Uncle can be Luke and Leia!

Starshine also likes that Auntie and Uncle have a picture by their profile - very cool!

Today's Fun:
We were out enjoying the beautiful day today, and the girls became soooo excited when they got fun four wheeler rides with our neighbor!



And thank goodness for the DVR or I would have missed Minnesota's awesome victory over Illinois (due to my nap!) - Go Gophers!

I hope you have a good day.

Internet Safety Lesson

Hi all,

You'll notice I deleted all of the comments so far, and changed all of the previous postings to provide a little internet safety.

Our oldest daughter came home from school today telling me about an internet safety video she watched with the media specialist. She learned that we shouldn't put our names, addresses, names of schools, telephone numbers, etc., on the computer because of some bad guys (Cat Face). So, she instructed me to change our blog to be safe, and then picked out nicknames for everybody:

Mom = pink mom (because I like pink)
Dad = M&M Dad (because he likes M&Ms)
sister = Jr. Princess (no explanation necessary)
...and she wanted to be refered to as Starshine (I have no idea why).

So, while the names don't currently roll of my fingers when typing, I love that she's coming home and teaching all of us some important lessons.

So - for all of our blog followers - Starshine requests that you change your profile to not list last names, and please use nicknames and non-identifiable information when posting comments.

I'm still trying to decide if I need to change the title of the blog...

I miss you grandma grandpa.

All about Jr. Princess

Jr. Princess was very excited to get a card from Grandma M. today.

At the end of the note, Grandma M. asked Jr. Princess to give Starshine a hug and a kiss - and she was happy to oblige.
She also went for a bike ride with me (walking) around the block while Starshine was at soccer practice. I learned that I now have to wear my running shoes and exercise clothes when we go because she is officially faster than me.

Later, she tucked me in with a pillow, blanket and her Emmie and told me I had to go to sleep because she was the Mommy and I was the baby. When I asked her what the Mommy does, she replied, "Mommies take charge of you." - sounds about right!

I like jr. princess.

At School

Starshine is learning about butterflies. In her room she has 3 cocoons and one in j-stage. When she went to math in Mrs. B's room today, everyone was very excited because they got to watch one of the butterflies hatch.

I had fun watching the chrysalis hatch. I liked Sarayu's cupcakes.

Apparently cupcakes are the theme of the day...

Jr. Princess's favorite thing today - "I liked eating my cupcake."

Mmmm - now I feel like a cupcake!

Fun Videos

The girls are totally in the spirit of putting pictures on our blog. So when I told them we could record some video clips, they were SUPER EXCITED. Here are some of the videos they wanted to share with you.

ABCs

Counting by 5s

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Counting Backwards

Maple Grove Indoor Playground

Sunday morning I took the girls to an indoor playground because:

1. It was pouring rain
   
2. Starshine has been asking for weeks, and we kept telling her the weather was too nice
   
3. M&M Dad looked like he needed some peace and quiet.
   

It actually was great for everybody, because the girls kept themselves so busy playing nicely together that I read a good chunk of my Book Club book: The Book of Joe. (a good read so far), and when we got home M&M Dad had made a fantastic lunch.

Jr. Princess's favorite was the big slides, and Starshine liked the little coin operated ice cream truck - because to her amazement it started once without any money!

I loved it.

Soccer/Vehicle Fair

Yesterday we all went to watch Starshine's soccer game...

and I had fun!!! And I am glad Dad is my coach. Soccer is my favorite sport and it is fun.



Jr. Princess and I, however, were distracted by the Shoreview Vehicle Fair in the nearby parking lot. Jr. Princess loved to climb in trucks, tractors, fire engines, a school bus and even a tank! She says her favorite was the big big tractor!





And I wish I could come.


When I finally went to watch the game I was toally annoyed by the super critical moms sitting next to me. I told M&M Dad he should make the last practice of the season Moms vs. the team so we could see how well they'd do!

Grandparents/Special Person Day at School

M&M Dad went to Special Persons Day at Starshine's school yesterday. Her class sang songs, read poems, and ate cookies.

Starshine typing:
I had juice and Dad had water.

M&M Dad's favorite part was the poem called rat-a-tat-tat. He also was proud when Mrs. L said Starshine was a joy to have in class. She loves first grade so far!

Fun Family Woods Walk

We went for a fun family woods walk at Harriet Alexander Nature Center. It was a little cool and damp, but the girls love running along the board walk path.

(Jr. Princess says her favorite part was eating her snack and treat.)