Super Fun Kid Weekend!

 

We had a really great kid weekend! What started out to be a low key weekend without many plans, turned into a ton of fun for AJ, Jason and I.

 

On Friday morning, I woke up early and couldn't sleep and was just thinking about the weekend. I thought it would be fun to take AJ to Chuck E Cheese that night- something a little different and fun. So, I asked a bunch of parents from AJ's school if they wanted to bring their kids along. It ended up that only his good buddy Kelan and his mom, Juliana could make it. It was great! Juliana and I are getting to know each other better so we just chatted the night away while the boys played and won tickets :) It was super fun!

 

Saturday, I had planned to just get stuff done. Grocery shop, car wash, etc.. We woke up early (thank you AJ) and watched movies in bed for a while. Then, I decided to make some banana bread. I love that AJ wanted to help!

 

Making YUMMY Banana Bread!

 

 While we were out and about running errands I noticed the my good friend Heather was also in Castle Rock for her daughters soccer game. I texted her real quick to see where she was and AJ and drove over to hang out. He and Braylon played while we watched the game. Turns out the game was at AJ's soon to be kindergarten! It was really neat to be hanging out at his new school :)

 

Braylon and AJ

 Saturday night, the three of us headed down to Colorado Springs to celebrate our GREAT friend Maddy's 10the birthday! Maddy is truly one of the sweetest kids I know. I trust her 100% with AJ and she's such a great little mother to him. He loves her and even though they have a huge age difference, they have a blast together!

AJ and Maddy

Love

AJ won this HUGE Ape! He calls him "Grape Ape" hah!

 On Sunday, the three of us went back down to the Springs and met up with Heather and family again. We went to this awesome park called Fox Run Park. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. We packed a lunch, let the kids play, blow bubbles and even had a family football game! It was so fun! Since they are a family of 5, we recruited Braylon (who is 3) to come on our team. It was the cutest thing!

Silly faces!

Check out the background! I love this state!

Talking strategy :)

 

1st Camping Trip of 2013!

I find it quite hilarious that a week ago we were ending our ski season and now we're on to camping :) We don't really stop, right? But it's all so fun!

 

Jason and AJ did A TON of camping last year... and this year I get to join them on some of their adventures. In fact, looking at the calendar this year, there are TWELVE camping trips planned..Most of them are local and just 2 days, but we are going to Yellowstone for a week in July and to Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming in late July (can't wait for those two trips!)

 

This past weekend was really a last minute trip Jason planned- to get his trailer all dialed in for the season. Let me tell you- this is the way to camp!

 

Loading up!

 

An hour later, we had arrived. It was a beautiful campsite and very close to civilization. In fact, the other view with the highway. Not close enough to hear, but you could see it.

I brought all kinds of things to do. AJ and I love to play Connect Four. I'm trying to teach him to really think about the moves he makes. I have fantastic memories of playing this with my brother growing up. I sent this pic to Matt and told him AJ was red.. His response "Pretty sneaky sis!" lol!

Here's my boy eating these delicious cherry ricotta muffins I made :)

Here we are Saturday morning. Jason was making us eggs and bacon and we were playing around having fun :) Surprisingly, we had great weather! It's snowed most of last week and again today but this weekend was nice! We were able to be in jeans and t-shirts during the day. Made a fire and had jackets at night.

We went for a (very) short hike :)

And sat around telling stories. It was Jason's turn to tell stories about his family.  He told AJ about his grandpa and how we got his name, Anderson after his grandpa

Of course we had a fire ;)

And we played with chalk. AJ had each of us lay down and he drew our bodies and then colored in our hearts :)

And then this.. S'mores :)

Yes, he took a shower that night ;)

More drawing before heading home. It was such a fun weekend as a family :)
 

One more thing to add.. We watched Life of Pi on Friday night and all weekend we were calling each other "Richard Parker" and cracking up. If you don't know what I mean, rent the movie :)

Last Ski Day of the Season

California Trip!

AJ and I took a trip to California last weekend and had a great time! We haven't seen Grandma and Papa since Christmas- WAY too long!

 

Stopped at Starbucks before the airport

We arrived in the afternoon and as usual, we headed straight to the park!



Lexi ordering food from AJ's cafe :)

That night we all hung out and played Legos.

The next morning.. back to the park.. in PJ's!

See his worm? It was very damp that morning and all the worms and snails were out. AJ loved it! YUCK!

Friday night my mom had a great BBQ with the family. Matt and Kristin came and Jason did too! He was in California for a work trip and surprised us by extending it a few extra days so we could see him :)

 

AJ and Papa playing Legos!

 

 

Hanging with Daddy

 

Ice Cream with Matt!

On Saturday, we had planned to go on Uncle Matt's boat, but it broke down, so we had to change our plans. We took AJ to Irvine Spectrum to see a movie.

 

AJ and Grandma on the Merry Go Round

Lexi and AJ at the park :) PJ's and Flip Flops!




AJ and Lexi played in the sprinklers :) Fun times!

Decision Making as a Parent

I have gotten pretty good at living in the moment. At the very least, I've gotten better at pulling myself back from the future and realizing I need to "be here now". Of course I'm not perfect, but I'm very aware.

I can't help but freak out a little when it comes to making decisions about AJ's future. Being the parents, it's up to Jason and I to research things and make our decision based on what we learn in hopes that it will be the best thing for AJ.

Kindergarten is freaking me out. I have been thinking about if for over a year and trying to determine the best thing for AJ. I thought I had it figured out, but then found out my plan was probably not the best one.

Jason and I decided last year that we would get AJ in the lottery for Academy Charter School. We really like the school, the dean, the teachers, the curriculum, the small class sizes and I like the fact that kids wear uniforms. This school would take him all the way up to 8th grade. We did a tour and the kids look so happy, the staff is so friendly and helpful. We got him on the list of the lottery and lucky enough, he got in! This school only has one full day kindergarten and also an AM and PM class. I had really hoped to get him into full day, but he only got half. The second half of the day he would go to his current school, Castle Academy.

I had it all worked out and he'd go to ACS for the morning and Castle after lunch. And then, this weekend I was at an Easter party and talked to some of AJ's current teachers and the kindergarten teacher at Castle. I asked them if AJ would essentially get a full day of Kindergarten at two schools. ALL of them answered with a resounding "NO!". They told me that the half day program at any school is tough because there is so much information crammed into it. And then he would come to Castle and essentially do some arts and crafts and have a ton of play time. Plus they didn't have a PM teacher at Castle yet and had no idea who it could be. AND that person didn't need to be certified?!I was not at all happy to hear this, but I really appreciated the honesty.

Sarah, the only full day Kindergarten teacher at Castle Academy had a really good idea. She suggested putting AJ in Castle for the AM kindergarten class. She said he will likely be in her class (she is the certified teacher in the real, full day class but if they only have a few half day kids, they get incorporated in) but he would only go until lunch time. She said that she crams most of the reading and writing into the mornings because she finds that's when her kids are most ready to learn. Then, she recommended having him go to ACS for the PM kindergarten class. This way he really will get almost a whole day of learning, rather than tons of play time. I feel good about this.. I think?

Some might ask, why not just change schools all together? And I considered it, but I really like ACS. And if I change him to another school, like his feeder public school, he will be off the list for ACS for 1st grade. He'll also be in a class with 28 kids versus 22 kids.

I just hope I'm making the right decision. Jason thinks I'm stressing too much about this and it'll all work out. I'm sure it will all work out. I just want to give AJ every opportunity to learn and succeed.

Oh, and lastly- he is still on the list for full day in ACS if it opens up. If it does, we're jumping all over that! Stay tuned...

A Very Happy Easter 2013

What an unexpected and truly awesome weekend we had! It all started Thursday night when we had a play date with one of AJ's best buddies, Kelan. His mom picked up Kelan and AJ from school and I met them at Kelan house for a play date. We had pizza and the kids played while Kelans mom and I "helped the Easter Bunny" prepare for Easter. We haven't ever had a play date together, but have talked about it for months. I was so glad to get to know Juliana and her husband Jan more and the boys had a blast, of course. While we were there, I told Juliana that AJ told me how sad he was a few days before because he hadn't seen the Easter Bunny. How would the bunny know that AJ wanted a Batmobile! (apparently Easter is now Christmas?) So we talked and the only day it would work to see the Easter Bunny was the next day, Friday. Once again, Juliana was kind enough to get AJ from school and brought both boys to the mall and I met them there. They saw the bunny (but were more excited by the pet store and Disney store). After an hour or so, we all had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Juliana and I had good conversation and wine. The boys colored, ate and play iPhone. We were all happy!

AJ and the Easter Bunny

Kelan and AJ

 On Saturday, Juliana (who is well known for throwing amazing parties!) had this REALLY fun Easter party. She had a great egg hunt and then the kids (all 20 of them) played for hours and had a blast. Each child was sent home with a monogrammed bucket FULL of candy and toys. It was a hit! I had a great time talking with other moms about Kindergarten and such.. Boy how my life has changed! hahah

Pre Party Fun!

AJ, Tyson and Madelyn

All the kids listening to instructions for the egg hunt

My love...

These two are SO cute now.. But they will be trouble later.. Trust me!

That night we went back to Jason's for another little neighborhood BBQ. But before everyone got there we did some egg dying. Super fun! (and low stress and low clean up) Doesn't matter than out of 18 eggs we only ended up with 11 to hide right? :)

 

 

 

Good Easter Morning Ya'll!

 

 

Look what he found!

 

After AJ found all the eggs the Easter Bunny hid for him, we played a game of hide and seek. We took turns hiding and finding the eggs. When it was his turn to hide them, this is what happened. I couldn't help but totally crack up!

 

 After our Easter morning, we got washed up, and AJ and I went to church. After, Jason picked us up and we headed to this awesome park called Elk Ridge Park in Castle Pines. It was amazing! OH and the ENTIRE weekend it was beautiful, and warm and I even got a little sunburn. SWEET!

 

On Saturday night, I got a text from a good friend Lisa asking what we were doing for Easter. We didn't have plans. She asked if Jason, AJ and I wanted to join them for dinner. John, her husband was celebrating his 40th birthday AND cooking this amazing feast. We couldn't pass it up! Lisa and I often have "wine play dates" where the kids play and we eat pizza and have a glass of wine. Her husband travels A LOT and so she's home most evenings. John and Jason have met, but really don't know each other. Anyway, we went and had a blast! The kids play so well together and the guys had a great time getting to know each other. It seemed so easy and so comfortable. Plus, the food was out of control good. (Who knew AJ liked pickled beets?!) SUCH a wonderful time!

These two are also double trouble!

 

Right about now, John is saying "get your hands off my daughter!"

 

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!