Katie's Birthday Party

Katie wanted to have a mystery party for her birthday, so we tried it. Below are the details from the invitation. Remember she is turning 6, so all of her guests are 5 or 6. I am so ambitious in my party attempts! LOL.

Oh no! Garry Gator the prankster is at it again! He escaped last night and released five animals and hid them somewhere else in the zoo! After the night of mischief, Garry Gator’s back in his swampy exhibit fast asleep and refuses to talk. But before he went to bed, he slipped some envelopes under the door of the zoo keeper’s office! Unfortunately, we think it’s like last time and the envelopes probably contain riddles about the missing animals. We need to hurry and solve Garry Gator’s riddles to figure out which animals he hid and where they are hidden in the zoo before the customers arrive or the Mayor will shut down the zoo!

Well, the actual mystery game was a little more than a dozen 5 & 6 year olds can handle, but they did love the scavenger hunt part of the game. Unfortunately I was too busy leading the game to get many pictures, and I didn't have the best photographer as my back up. I think he was too busy drinking his beer with the other dads that stuck around.
The kids on the scavenger hunt.

After hunting for clues they played a game where each kid had an animal taped on his or her back and they had to figure out which animal it was by asking each other questions. Next was a rousing game of Duck Duck Goose.

Then it was time for the kids to frost their own cupcakes, sing Happy Birthday and play outside.



Finally it was time to open presents and do the gift exchange. Each guest brought a wrapped game, Katie unwrapped them all, she had first choice then she drew names and each guest picked out a game to take home. There were a ton of great games and a lot of parents go some good ideas for Christmas presents.

Katie ended up with a game called "Rat a tat cat." Katie, Don and I played it after all of her friends left. The idea is to get four cards with the lowest total, she's getting really good at adding numbers!

Overall, it was a fun party, but I think next year we'll just stick to playing games and running around!

She'll have her family birthday party on Tuesday, her real birthday. She's decided she wants macaroni and cheese FROM THE BOX for her birthday dinner. I'm going to try and talk her into having that for her birthday lunch. :)

Hey Diddle Diddle

Did you know it was such sport?

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Katie's Kindergarten class had a Nursery Rhyme Performance today. Katie recited two nursery rhymes as a trio. Listen carefully to hear her. She knows all the nursery rhymes by heart.

It must be Halloween!

Another great Halloween! Since today is also Nevada Day, there was no school. It was so nice to sleep in and have no where to go this morning. The kids and I had a GREAT day at home. About 2:30, their friends Lauren and Matt came by. Then around 4:30 it was time for us to head over to the Festival at Matt & Lauren's school. The kids had so much fun hanging out, but 4 kids in a car is NOISY! Now that all the kids are in school, we don't get to see Matt & Lauren very often, so it's a nice treat. Katie had to write about her favorite day and she chose Halloween because she gets to see Lauren!

The kids had a great time bouncing in the bounce houses and climbing through the obstacles. Then it was time to play some carnival games and win some prizes.
Alex loved the target tossing game. Finally it was time to "trunk or treat." Instead of going door to door, people line up their cars, decorate the trunks and pass out candy. It makes the whole process so much easier. Up and down the aisle and then you're done!

Alex dressed as Scooby and Katie as Daphne.
However, Katie did not want to wear the wig to her costume, so she just had the Daphne dress and accessories. After the Festival we headed over to visit one of Don's friends, where of course the kids were spoiled with more treats. Finally it was time to visit Grammy and Grampy. Once we got home it was time for a quick bath, dinner and then two tired kids went to bed.

A long way gone.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is heart wrenching, but such a good read. It really puts a lot of things into perspective. It's inspiring and astonishing at the same time. Everybody should read this book. Very well written and really gives insight into the author's life experience. There has been some controvery over the accuracy of the book, but who's to argue with a young man who lived and survived through such harrowing times.



I became so interested I had to look up more information about the author and found quite a few interviews on-ling.



I HIGHLY reccomend this book.


View all my reviews.

A Work in Progress

So this is what my house looked like after having it re-piped. I'm so impressed with how quickly the workers have gotten the job done. Today, they came and textured the walls that they repaired yesterday. You can't even tell there were ever holes! Tomorrow they come repaint. It's been a pretty easy process, but I can't wait to be able to put all of our things back into the correct places and get my house back in order. It's gets old having people working in your house every day and feeling like you have to find someplace to go. I can't wait to have my home sweet home back! :)

Working in the 3's

I had a fun time working in the 3s class today. They are one busy bunch, did I mention how LOUD they are? Here's a cute video from today.
Here is a list of some of the things the kids got to do today:
* make apple pies & then eat them
* play with floam
* garden
* paint
* play outside
* dress up
* read books
* experiment with apples
* dance
* move

I LOVE the Co-op!