Matthew's Poem about CLAIRE

• C - Caring for me
• L - Loves rainbow looms
• A - Always nice
• I  - I play with her
• R - Rides rollercosters
• E - Eats ice cream

Then there was a little picture of Claire at the bottom eating ice cream from 'Bascin Robins'.  I love the bond these two have.  They are so similar and find so much comfort in one another.  Siblings are the best.

Matthew's Magic Mitten

We limit Matthew's screen time to 30 minutes a day.  If we let him, he would play all day.  He loves to jump around and sing songs while he plays and generally, just loves it.  Hence the 30 minute limit.  We keep seeing him writing about his Disney Infinity, Skylander chararacters and his overall fascination with the XBox 360.  We have told him to dial back his writing about video games because his teacher probably thinks that is all that he does.  I thought I had gotten through to him until I got today's piece of writing about his Magic Mitten.  

A sweet little cut-out paper mitten came home day, complete with yarn stitching on the outside that Matthew had done at school.  It had lines on it so that they kids could write about what they would do with their magic mitten.  Matthew's read, "If I had a special magic mitten, I would go into it and play my XBox in it."  Honestly.  His teacher must think our parenting style is just the best!

Matthew's Funny Valentine

Matthew came home today with a Valentine for me and Damien.  On the front, it read:
"I would die for you.  Okay, maybe not.  Yeah!  You're still alive!"  -Love, Matthew

Okay, on the other side it read:
"Dear Mom and Dad,
You are the best Mom and Dad.  I love you.  Happy Valentine's Day."  -Love, Matthew

Might be my favorite Valentine card to date!

Happy Valentine's Day to you, Matthew!!
Love, Mom and Dad

Matthew's 100th Day of School

In school, Matthew was asked to write about 100 things he wants on his 100th day of school:

• I would like 100 Hex Bug Nanos because they can climb.
• I would like 100 Disney Infinity Characters because they are fun.
• I would like 100 dolors (dollars) because I could mostly buy everything.
• I would like 100 friends because we would have fun.
• I would like 100 candys because they are yummy.
• I would like 100 dogs because they would keep me company.
• I would like 100 food because I wouldn't get hungry.
• I would not like 100 snaks (snakes) because I would die.

Damien's 38th Birthday

DAMIEN.,word for amazing.
DAMIEN.
You can't spell Damien without "ien".
DAMIEN.
My inspiration.
DAMIEN.
Everyone's Idol.
DAMIEN.
Man, Myth, Legend.
DAMIEN.
An amazing father.
DAMIEN.
My hero.
-Michael

I once had a Dad,
That when it came to being good, he was bad.

Your favorite color is blue,
And most of the time the things you say aren't true.

Roses are Rainbows,
Violets are Llamas,
This poem doesn't make sense,
Guavas and Pie.

Happy birthday from your favorite crazed weirdo,
Claire

I love my Dad because he takes care of me!!!!!!!!!!
-He plays video games with me!!!!
-You are the best Dad in the whole entire world!
-I love when you hug me!
-I love you because you buy food for me!

Love, Matthew

I love you.
You are the awesomest Dad.
You're the coolest Dad I've ever seen in my whole entire life.
I love you very, very, very, very, very much.
You are my awesome Dad forever!
Love,  Emily

"How does your family cook a turkey?"

Matthew was asked, "How does your family cook a turkey?" in class today.  It was a class writing assignment. Damien and I loved his response:

My family cooks a turkey for Thanksgiving.
First, My Dad puts the turkey in the oven.
Then, He turns it to 12.
Third, He takes it out of the oven.
Last, He cookes it.
Finaly, We eat the turkey.
It was good.

What Gives Matthew Energy

Today, Matthew brought home a neatly written paper from Science class.  He told me that they had to write down things that give you energy.  These cracked me up.  Damien and I adore the way Matthew spells things phonetically.

What Gives Me Energy:
By:  Matthew Swendsen

Egg
Nectren (nectarine)
Egg Nog
Reses Peses (Reeses Pieces)
Graps (Grapes)
Yogert (Yogurt)

How Old Am I Up Here?

Emily was dropping off Claire at her basketball practice, when they were walking back to the car. Emily asked Damien to put her on his shoulders, and as soon as she was up there, she asked:

"Daddy, how old am I up here?"

Not to miss a beat, Damien said "About 14." In reply, Emily said "Hey, that's how old Jackie (our babysitter) is!"

She felt very cool the rest of the way to the car.

Typical School Morning Snapshot

Emily's Parent Teacher Conference

So far, Emily has been loving preschool.  She loves the new friends, recess, and snack time- but isn't a huge fan of all the homework she has to do.  Oh, Emily.  If you only really knew how much homework is in your future!

Miss Naheed has had great things to say about Emily and I trust her evaluation whole heartedly.  Today were Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Earlier in the week, we received a review of Emily in her new preschool class.  It read:

"Emily is a very bright, loving, and cooperative student.  

She takes a keen interest in all her class work 
and enjoys music and movements.  

She is social by nature and easy for others to include as a friend.  

Emily is a wonderful girl and I'm happy to have her in my class."  
-Miss Naheed

Emily has a big personality.  At home she is very colorful and loves to push boundaries and test the rules we set for her.  I can't say that I wasn't the same way when I was a little girl.  The thing Emily has to deal with, on top of her already fun personality, is that she is the baby of the family.  Emily is constantly trying to lose the title of 'Baby of the Family'.  She tries to do things that Claire and Michael do.  She literally wishes she was 11 and honestly, I think that she things she's 11.  This makes it hard for her to just be a kid.  Just be okay with being 4.  We were so excited for her to start school so she could be around other kids her age and focus, well, on just being a kid.

Miss Naheed had wonderful things to say about Emily.  She is following the rules, being nice to other kids, and is very helpful to her teachers.  She has the occasional chatty moment at circle time but is doing so well!  We couldn't be prouder her of her!  Good job, Emily!

My Two Fur Balls

Since Michael, Claire, and Matthew are now back in all day school- I am just home with these two sweeties.  Emily and Sweetie Pie.  How can I complain with these cute faces staring at me?  It's going to take some getting used to the quiet house, but I know the three of us can figure it out!  

Claire's 11th Friend Birthday Party

Claire invited seven of her closest friends to her 11th birthday party today!  The plan was to have the girls meet her at Bucca di Beppo for a birthday lunch and then head back here for a viewing of The Hunger Games.  

The girls were so excited to have their very own room at Bucca di Beppos.  They were put in the Pope Room which is super cool.  It has a giant lazy Susan in the middle of the table with the Pope's head on it!  Random but fun, too!  I told them that if they behaved and were reasonably quiet, I would let them stay in there without an adult!  Damien, Michael, Claire, Matthew, Gina and I were at a neighboring table where I could see their every move!  No adult in the room . . . yes.  Adult watching their every move . . . yes!

We ordered yummy pizzas, pastas, and salads for them which they thought was awesome!  Then came the ginormous ice cream sundae for Claire's birthday song!

After that- we went back to the house for more fun!  They loved the movie and Claire loved all of the gifts that her friends gave her.  She got a life size cut out of Katniss Everdeen which was really cool.  She also got some other cute Hunger Game themed gifts!

She loved her party and is really grateful to have such great friends!  Once again, Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire's Birthday Gift from Gina

Just had to post this because this gift to Claire from Gina was just too cute.

Claire Turns ELEVEN!

Happy 11th Birthday to my sweet big girl, Clairey!  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, supportive, intelligent, capable, funny, and amazing daughter!  She was so excited for her special day!  Today is a school day.  It's not always fun to go to school on your birthday but we started off the day with doughnuts, so not all was bad!

Today was a 12:30 dismissal day so we showed up to get Claire, her friend Bella, and the other kids.  Damien gave her a dozen roses which was really cute!  We grabbed the kids and headed to Red Robin for her birthday lunch!

While at lunch, she asked to hold my phone so she could watch the clock to turn to 1:51 p.m. which would make her official!  It was cute.  She and Bella counted down the seconds and then cheered when Claire was finally 11!

For Claire's birthday, we gave her Adidas sandals, Nike athletic flip flops, and some great new boots (along with some other treats)!
For her birthday dinner, we invited the family down and had Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.  Claire's favorite flavor is Red Velvet so we made sure she got it!

Another high light of the day was Auntie Jocelyn's gift to Claire!  She wanted to give Claire money but didn't want to just put it in an envelope.  She wanted to do something crazy and she sure did!  She put the money in a ziplock, taped into the bottom of a bowl, filled the bowl with whip cream, put a hairnet on Claire, and then told her to get her gift . . . but she couldn't use her hands!  It was awesome!  Messy, fun, and eventually- Claire got her money!!!

Happy birthday, Claire!  We love you and can't wait for your friend party in a few days!  Have a great 11th year!

E and Papa's 40th Anniversary

We were so blessed to celebrate E and Papa's 40th Wedding Anniversary!  Their anniversary is the last weekend in August but we decided to postpone the party so we could all be there to celebrate them!  We were able to all come together today to celebrate this wonderful marriage!

We all met at a crepe restaurant in Santa Rosa and practically rolled out the red carpet for them.  We included many of their original wedding elements into our celebration and it was so moving to see Mark and Marlene go down memory lane.

Part of the luncheon included everyone telling Mark and Marlene something special that we felt about them.  It was especially wonderful to see the thirteen grandkids pay tribute to them.  It was so sweet.

Happiest of Anniversaries to you, Mark and Marlene.  Here's to 40 more!

Happy Saint Matthew's Day

Now it's Matthew's turn!  Today we got to celebrate St. Matthew's Day!  It is so funny that St. Emily's Day and St. Matthew's Day are only two days apart!  Lots of celebrating in September!  Matthew was so excited for today and literally woke up at the crack of dawn.  I had to tell him to go back to sleep because we weren't going to celebrate with Grandpa until the afternoon.

We face-timed Grandpa and started the celebration!  Matthew chose to get clown ice cream cones from Baskin Robbins as his dessert which everyone loved!  Then, the best part.  The presents!  Grandpa got him the Disney Infinity game and Mike Wazowski!  He was literally beside himself!  He had no idea that Grandpa could get him something so cool!

Thanks again Grandpa for making my kids feel extra special one more day out of the year!  We love you!  Happiest of Saint Days to you, Matthew!!!