Party!

Tori was invited to a party this weekend, and she is VERY excited about it. She has mentioned it several times, and she has asked us time and time again when it is. It is Sunday afternoon, and we're guessing she will get up early and get dressed, although the party is not until noon! On another note, we got an I-pad, and the oldest two are all over it. They love using it, and I don't think Huts and I have been able to use it for more than half an hour. Tori especially loves the Crayola program on it and kicked off her day off school this morning doing that. No doubt Christian has played with it all day at home. They are tech savvy and they are not even in their teens yet.

Tired One

Tori was a spider queen, and she loved every moment. She went trick-or-treating twice, and when that was over, she checked out all of the trick-or-treaters at the door. She zipped around, eating candy until it was time for bed. One night of rest was not enough, however, and Tori went to bed very early on Tuesday night. She woke up this morning happy as a clam, ready for a day of school!

Baby Sister

Of course, Tori wants one, but even she admits that she wouldn’t like to share anything with a sister. There are perks to being the only girl. Tori makes up for her lack of a sister with her dolls. She has tons of sisters that she hauls around the house and yard and plops wherever. When she found out she was having a girl cousin in November, the little one became her cousin-sister too. She is excited to have another girl cousin and can’t wait to meet her. Too bad we don’t live closer because Tori would surely take this new little baby under her wing!

Come Fly With Me

Tori is now a seasoned flyer.  We took 4 plane trips to Portland and back a few weeks ago and she had a great time.  We got in late and had a hard time getting back to the hotel, so we got to the hotel around 3 am our time.  She got a 2 hour nap on the 2nd flight and loved the in flight music selection.  She wasn't interested in the kung fu panda movie though.  She slept in late and went flower picking with all the girls and had some lunch.  Then back for a quick nap before the rehearsal and dinner.  She had pizza for dinner that night and had fun playing with her cousins and other kids.  We tried breakfast again in the morning at the hotel, but the kids weren't into it, so we walked to BK and had breakfast there.  We also had lunch at Elmers, which wasn't bad, but the kids needed a nap.  Tori and the girls took a decent nap and got ready for the wedding.  They all got to blow bubbles in the procession and were good for the ceremony and pictures.  They had a blast at the reception as you can see below.  We left a little early since we had an early flight and I took Tori and her cousins back to the hotel to get some sleep.  They played for a little bit and watched the cat and the hat and zonked out for the night.  I warned Tori the night before that we were getting up early and she'd have to get up when I woke her.  She got up, but was tired and crying a bit.  Once we got on the flight, she was ok.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any entertainment on the way back, but she still enjoyed the flights and only got a little ancy on the last flight waiting for it to land.  It took a day or so to recover from being exhausted, but she Overall, she had a good time and loved flying.  She can't wait to get on a plane again. 

Shot Time

Tori went for a checkup yesterday, along with Eli, and sadly, they had to get shots. I thought there shot days were over, but it turns out there are a couple of new shots. Tori, apparently, took it in stride, not even crying about it. She came home with a bright pink band-aid and stickers. She is doing well and growing fine. Eli, too. Unlike his big sister, he did cry. By the time I saw him, however, he was doing well with his band-aided leg. He told it hurt, and that was that. My babies are all grown up. I don’t even have a toddler anymore. Sad, but not sad enough for us to want another kid. We are done! The sight of infants doesn’t even move us anymore. Travis is having a girl in November, and while Huts and I look forward to meeting her and holding her, we also look forward to handing her back! We are so done with babies.

Happy Camper

Unlike her brother, Tori was a pure delight on the first day of school. She got up without a fuss and talked non-stop at breakfast, though she was a little teary when she learned there would be new kids in her class. Huts took her to her line, and they found it right away. After the fuss with Christian, I walked over to Tori and gave her a big hug. She was so excited to be there and even more so when she got off the bus. “That was fun!” she echoed Christian as we walked across the street. She had a great first day. The only downer was the 15 minutes of reading with her dad. She was not interested in that at all, but she survived and we will do it again tonight!

Ready for School

Tori got a mail teacher, Mr. Jacobson, for her first grade teacher. She was upset at hearing the news. She wanted a female teacher. Once she saw his picture and heard how nice he was, she got excited to start first grade. She's all ready to go to meet her new friends.

She also got to meet a kindergarten girl named Kayla who lives in our subdivision. She is getting some of Tori's old school clothes. They both seemed to like each other and want to play together right away. Kayla didn't stay long the day she came to check out the clothes, but they both were excited to setup a play date in the future after school gets rolling. Maybe they'll get to play together soon.

In a couple weeks, Tori gets to take her first flight to Portland for her Uncle Samm's Wedding. She's a bit scared about the flights, but she'll be fine after the first short leg of our trip is over. She'll get to dress up and fawned over at the wedding, so she'll be fine once we get there. The trip back is going to be a bit more difficult. We have an early flight and Tori is not an early bird. I may be carrying her through the airport zonked out. Hopefully it goes well and we can do it again in a few years to Disneyland.

Tori does not yet know her teacher for first grade. They are still sorting everything out. One of the first grade teachers passed away recently, so that and the coming and going of students has resulted in some shuffling. Christian promises not to say anything about his teacher until we know Tori’s. She wants a woman, but there is a possibility that she will end up with Mr. Jacobsen. She is terrified of that, but all will be ok. She is looking forward to having her own desk and using all of her new school supplies. Wish her luck!

Readers

Along with our trip to the bank, we visited the new library. Christian was not impressed, but Eli and Tori had a good time looking at the books and playing with the blocks and puzzles. We spent about an hour there, much to Christian’s dismay. Tori brought home a book about Olivia—she is on an Olivia kick right now. She has the house that turns into a pirate ship and the family. She also watches Olivia every chance she gets! Anyway, the book she borrowed folds out, and she has done a good job of keeping it away from Eli. Way to go, Tori!

Wowww!

We took the kids to a ball game late on Sunday night to catch the fireworks show. Tori had a blast. She got some fries, played at the playground and watched the fireworks show in awe! She loved every boom, unlike Christian who slunk down into his seat and covered his ears. She thought it was spectacular and watched most of it with her mouth open in awe! She had started to tire out, but the fireworks woke her up and she was oh so ready for more once we got home. She played outside for an hour lighting up the night with sparklers and went to bed after midnight! This morning, she was a bit tired but happy to go off to the sitter’s with toys in tow for whomever else might be there.

Birthday Party

12 was the magic number for the birthday party on Friday night. Owen showed up to play with Christian, and Tori had nine little girls to play with. There were also a few parents who stuck around to help. They played for an hour bouncing on nearly everything, and then they were off to the green room for pizza, ice cream and cake. Most must have eaten beforehand because there was quite a bit left. Oh well. Tori opened her presents, got a hug from Monkey Joe and took off for another half hour of play. Shop closed up at 8, and we were back home by 8:30 with three tired kids and a sack of presents. Many thanks to all who made this birthday so special for Miss Tori.

Diva Turns 6

Tori’s birthday was this Friday, and she had a blast shopping at the toy store. She collected all of her money—thanks to everyone who contributed—and bought:

Pillow Featherbed Lala Loopsy doll

Four mini Lala Loopsy dolls

Lala Loopsy doll treehouse (NEW!)

Lala Loopsy cat to dress up

Zoobles carrying case

Zoobles figures—for those of you who aren’t familiar with these, Zoobles are like Bakugans for girls.

Monster High Jeckyll and Hyde dolls

Tori is all set and spent much of this weekend playing with her new loot in her room. She doesn’t realize it, but this Friday is her party and she is sure to receive a few more gifts, including the cat above that she had me wrap for her party.

All of the Lalas and Zoobles came in, and out went the majority of the My Little Pony stuff. Tori is growing up, and her interests along with it!

Birthday Girl

It’s hard to believe, but Tori is turning 6 on Friday! She is getting so big now. Not only does she have her own way of doing things, but she is starting to talk like an older kid, telling us jokes and relaying stories of her friends. She even went to camp by herself this morning—yes, she was a bit scared but off she went without big brother Ollie.

She is fortunate enough to come from a big family, which means she will be receiving quite a bit of birthday money. This is presenting a problem in the shopping—she can’t make up her mind what she wants to buy. More than likely, some of it will go into savings until a later date. Got to make sure she leaves something for Mom and Dad to get her!

Out of all the people she gets cards from, Aunt Lucy and Lily (not Brent, sorry Brent) are her favorite. She looks forward to their card—probably because Lucy was the first to send her a musical card that she remembers. Lucy also sends gift cards, which Tori adores! Thanks, Aunt Lucy, and to everyone else who sends Tori a card or gives her a call. She loves to talk on the phone and will not doubt be pleased with everyone who calls her!

Birthday Girl

Tori will turn 6 on Father’s Day weekend, and yesterday, we booked a party for her at Monkey Joe’s. In addition to two hours of playtime, Tori will get pizza, cake, ice cream, a gift and goodies bags for everyone. She is not thrilled that she gets the green room for her party, but she will live. We aren’t sending out invitations until school is out to avoid the hoopla.

Since we can’t have the party on her birthday, we are going to have a little party of our home. Tori gets to choose where she wants to eat, and we’ll get her some gifts. I haven’t asked her if she wants to pick out her own gifts. We’ll see. Anyway, she is looking forward to her big days and will probably drive us crazier the closer we get to them.