The Girls' Valentine Party

Girls are so much fun, and I am so happy that I have a daughter to do girly things with.

We had a Valentines party,  it was a blast and utterly exhausting. 6 hyper little girls for 3 hours! We did hide and seek hearts in the backyard, heart pizza making, a treasure hunt, valentine creations and cookie decorating. We had chocolate fondue for desert... yummy! Whew, I am getting tired just remembering it all.

Too much too soon

Tonight was simply too much too soon.

Grace has been wanting to see "We Got a Zoo" and we finally had a chance to go tonight. We went to Party City first and bought some candy and then we got our tickets and popcorn and we were both excited for the movie. I love when I get one on one time with each of my kiddos.

Anyway,  I am fuming because I believe the movie was poorly rated and I wish I would have looked up some reviews on it before we went. I did check the rating and it was PG so I thought that would be okay. There was bad language, including s**t and d**k. Which Grace promptly asked me what d**k means. Granted, there were just three times those words were mentioned but little ears only have to hear these words once and then they know.

Further, at one point in the movie they insinuate that there is no Easter Bunny. Which I am so very sad about. I was really hoping to get one more year of believing with her. She is very smart, so I am sure she could read between the lines.  I was waiting for her to say something after the movie about it, but she did not. So I am just left wondering, does she know or not?

After the movie ended, we were walking through the mall, which was pretty much closed up. It was around 9:30. There were not many people around, just a few pre-teen kids hanging out. You could tell they were boyfriend/girlfriend 'couples' hanging out at the mall. They were holding hands, being silly and looked so young and stupid.

My heart just felt so sad, because I started thinking about Grace and how mad I was at the movie (and myself) for exposing her to things too early. I want her to stay 7 and believe in the Easter Bunny forever. And tonight she is still 7, but may not believe anymore. I felt like I became one step closer to her being one of those pre-teen girls at the mall at 9:30 on a Saturday night.

I felt a loss for something that has yet to come.

So when we got home, I held back the tears and I spent extra time, putting her to bed, reading her books and I told her that tomorrow we will play barbies together.

Lo and Behold

Grace and Jayden have been playing together a lot lately. I think it is because she can still get away with bossing him around, and not so much Zachary anymore. This morning, they played for several hours and then they started arguing and would not stop. I told them that they could not play together anymore and I sent Jayden out to play outside. A few minutes later, I hear Grace's voice outside and they are on the swings together. She was trying to teach him how to pump his legs and swing by himself. Lo and behold, her lesson worked and he started swinging all by himself. He was so proud, and she was just as happy and proud that she was the one that taught him.

One minute they are arguing and the next sharing a great moment together. I suppose that is what siblings are all about; at all ages.

In other news, we are still a bit sick. Zachary woke me up in the middle of the night last night complaining of an ear ache. I took him to the doctor this morning and he has an ear infection. The doctor said it was extremely red and bulging and was surprised Zachary was not crying in pain. He said that it is possible that it might burst, I hope that the antibiotics don't take long to work and it can heal it before that happens. My sweet boy, I hate when they are in pain!

Hiking

The weather was so beautiful, we took the kids for a hike on Monday. I just love the desert mountains.

Climbing on the big boulders.

Jayden had no fear and wanted to climb the biggest ones, which kept freaking me out.

Zachary thinks he found a four leaf clover here.

Jayden discovered a rock that looks like a marshmallow

Jayden says this is his new bed

Zachary lead the way

The kids found several animal homes

Jayden kept sticking his head or fingers in these homes, he is really good at freaking me out.



Grace rests after all that climbing, she is getting so grown up.

Where do they come up with this stuff?

I'm sitting on the couch making the grocery list and this is what I hear in a matter of 5 minutes:

Grace: Assistant Zachary, hand me the remote.

Zachary Ignores

Grace: Assistant Jayden, hand me the remote.

Jayden Ignores

Zachary: Jayden did not sign a contract, he's not getting you the remote.

Zach and Jayden go outside to play.

One minute Later:

Zach comes in and informs me that Jayden peed in a Tupperware container outside and that he had to throw it against the tree and tell Jayden not to pee in Tupperware.

I stick my head out the door and tell Jayden to come inside and pee in the potty when he has to pee. Then I finish my grocery list.

Girls Party

Grace and I kicked the boys out yesterday and had her friends over for gingerbread house decorating. I have a wonderful memory of my mom organizing a girls valentine's day party when I was in grade school. I want to give my kids those some types of memories. So even though it required my extra time and energy to make it happen, I am so glad that I did. All of the girls had a great time and I enjoyed hearing them talking and giggling when they were decorating.  The conversation ranged from who likes who, the teacher who is rumored to only talk about toys, and the girl who was seen on the girls bathroom floor working on her  posters for E-Club (and that was such a big deal by the way) They are a sweet and funny group of girls. It started me thinking about the future, as the kids get older and hit middle school and high school age they will be faced with more choices. If I can figure out how open our home and make it the spot to be for the kids and their friends that would be ideal.Then maybe I won't worry so much.

Party Planning

Grace is having some friends over on Saturday morning for a little holiday party. I told her to make a list of who was coming and to write some ideas down for the party. Here is what she came up with: