First Beach Day!

Can you tell we're excited?

Roller skating

I'm always looking for new activities for the kids to keep them entertained. At the gym a few weeks ago, another mom told me about skating lessons at the Fountain Valley skating rink and I thought we'd give them a try. They do a half hour of "free skate," and then a structured 30 minute lesson. I went into it knowing it could turn out great or completely tragic. Luckily, it was a little of both. This is obviously before any skating began. Don't they look so grown up?
So, Von's problem was that he wanted to RUN. And running led to falling. We eventually switched his skates to the Fisher Price ones. They were great, he could run without falling much. Although, about half way through the hour, he just decided that he was done. He sat by the front door and tantrumed until we were ready to go.
The lesson part of it was really great. By the end, and after the teacher had tightened Addi's wheels, she was able to skate without holding on to me. She ended up loving it, even though her many falls, led to many tears. We will be going back soon, once we all recuperate from a month of sickness. It seems every year we are plagued with it. We all have had a variety of the flu, sore throats, colds, coughs, pink eye, etc. I am crossing my fingers we are nearing the end of it.

First day of school

These pictures are a little belated. My friend Kayla, was kind enough to send me these that she took of Addi and her daughter, Meredith. I took pictures before we left for school, but when I went to upload them, they were all black.

Addi & Meredith

Addi's teacher Mrs. Elliot. After the first week of school, I approached her after school to see how Addi was doing. She said she was doing great, really social and that she was listening and following directions? I was surprised and told her that she is kind of a handful at home, to which she responded, "Ya, I can tell." This week, on Monday, I got a call from Addi's school. It was an office lady. She explained to me that Addi had told her that I had forgotten to pack her lunch and that she was supposed to buy hot lunch. Evidently, Addi had told her teacher the same thing. So when lunchtime came, Addi got into the hot lunch line, but when she got to the cash register, she had no cash or money in her account. She explained again to the lunch lady again her "situation," so the lunch lady sent her to the office to borrow some money. Which is when I got the phone call. At first, I frantically looked all over the kitchen thinking I really did forget to put her lunch in her backpack. I knew I had packed a lunch. And it all became very clear...Addi had had a plan. Lied to three adults to try to accomplish her plan. I could hear Addi in the back ground still trying to convince the office lady she was supposed to buy hot lunch! Once we figured it out, she sent Addi back to her class to get her real lunch. Are we in for it or what?

And then there is Von. This is why I didn't even attempt to take a camera to school. This is a daily occurrence. Von thinks that he is a big kid and kicks and screams when he has to leave his sister at school. Did I mention he is 35 plus pounds? I carry him back to the car, hitting, kicking and screaming. I am counting the months until he turns three and gets over these tantrums.

"It's cute."

About a week ago, Addi got a hold of a pair of scissors and decided it would be a good idea to cut herself bangs and layers in the front of her hair. Lucky for her, she did not cut it too short! Although, she is still banned from any scissor use at home for quite some time. I had to post his picture among the others. This girl is so funny. Notice the orange stripes on her face? She drew them. They are her "Indian marks," because she "wanted to look like an Indian." What? They were in the fading stage by the time we got to the salon.
Look at this mischievous face! This week has actually been an awful one in the Clawson house. Addi, Von and I all had the flu. The puking until you have nothing left to puke and then puke some more flu. It was not fun. And now both kids have a cough. Addi only went to school one day this week and I did not make it to work at all. Let's hope for better luck next week!
The final product. It turned out great. She is so cute. Still our little handful (more like 18 handfuls), but she never ceases to make us laugh. Yesterday, she picked out a movie to watch during Von's nap. Naturally it was Batteries Not Included. I am pretty sure she is the only five year old that even knows what that movie is and knows the premise of it. I said, "Addi, that is so weird!" To which she quickly replies, "No Mom, it's cute. The two spaceships make babies. It's cute Mom." And so is she.

Just in case you were wondering...

This is what a 13 pound baby looks like. My best friend Erin had a baby recently, and no joke, he was 13 pounds!
This is Erin's sister Amy, who was also one of my roommates at Ricks. Love her.
Another fave roommate, Jen. She was kind enough to take pictures to document this kid. Love her too.
Roomies. I wish I could have been there! They are lucky to all live in Washington and be able to see each other frequently. Oh the memories and good times we had together! It seems like yesterday...

New Dresses!

So cute, right? Check them out at shabbyapple.com!

And the pictures were taken by my fabulous cousin Chelsey who you can find here.

Obsessed

With two things right now...

I ate an entire 10 pound bag from Costco in a week.
At the gym, I've given up the elliptical for kickboxing. Not just regular kickboxing, Turbo Kickboxing. Everything is done at a super fast speed, where you don't have time to think about how hard it is or how tired you are. I actually look forward to going to the gym now. Maybe, I should start taking pictures of my kids again, it's been awhile since I've posted about them!