Thursday, October 28, 2010

BEWARE...BRAG SESSION IN PROGRESS....

I'M SUCH A PROUD MAMA (really...what's new???) !!!

DEREK AND I HAD OUR FIRST PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE FOR ANDREW TODAY. THE TEACHER HAD ONLY WONDERFUL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT OUR BIG BOY! WHILE I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT WHAT A WONDERFUL YOUNG MAN ANDREW IS BECOMING, I'LL TOUCH ON SOME OF THE FINER POINTS MENTIONED BY HIS TEACHER...

* ANDREW CAN READ
* ANDREW CAN WRITE SENTENCES
* ANDREW CAN PERFORM ALL OF THE SORTING TASKS (by number, shape, color, etc)
* ANDREW CAN EXPLAIN LOGIC BEHIND HIS SORTING
* ANDREW CAN BOTH FOLLOW PATTERNS AND CREATE HIS OWN PATTERNS
* ANDREW LISTENS IN CLASS
* ANDREW IS KIND TO HIS CLASSMATES AND TEACHERS
* ANDREW FOLLOWS INSTRUCTIONS
* ANDREW IS A "SWEET BOY"
* ANDREW IS VERY SMART AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A GREAT LEADER
* ANDREW IS AMAZING....ok...maybe that came out MY mouth, not the teacher's...but you get the point!!!

THERE WERE 3 THINGS SHE POINTED OUT WE COULD WORK ON WITH ANDREW...

1 - HELPING HIM WRITE HIS NUMBERS - SOME ARE BACKWARDS
2 - HELPING HIM SPACE OUT HIS WORDS IN A SENTENCE
3 - ENCOURAGE HIM TO BE A LEADER IN CLASS (apparently the teacher has asked him to help other students and he has respectfully declined :) )

SO...ALL IN ALL, YOU CAN TELL WHY WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF ANDREW!!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

CHEAP DATE....

ALL OF YOU WHO LOVE TEX-MEX (in the NoVa/DC/MD area) BE SURE TO CHECK OUT TODAY'S GROUPON DEAL....



JUST BOUGHT MINE...YUM! CAN WE SAY CHIPS AND GUAC BABY!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

INdecision

all my life i have struggled with making decisions. i tend to defer to someone else. usually on the smallest of things, such as what to have for dinner, what color should I polish my nails, what i should wear, etc. i married a man with the same decision making abilities. so...what did we expect from our offspring?!?! YES....andrew is EXTREMELY indecisive. he always has been. from what sippy cup he wanted to use at a younger age, to what book to read at night, to what clothes to wear, etc. it has always been a challenge for andrew to make decisions. we have even sought professional help in this area...although who are we kidding...WE are the ones who taught him this wonderful life skill ;)
now to the present day story of andrew's indecisiveness....about a month ago (because while i may not be able to make small decisions, i AM a planner of sorts!) we started talking about what andrew wanted to be for halloween. he said "a detective" just like "nate the great." easy enough i thought...i'll buy him a hat, coat and magnifying glass. mission halloween costume had begun. when my mom was in town a few weeks ago we found a hat i could easily make into the necessary style and a mag glass. all was looking good! well...there had to be problem, right...my search for a detective coat took me far and wide...online...in stores...friend's closets...etc...but no coat! we were scheduled to attend a halloween party this past sat night and in a last ditch effort to not let andrew down, i came up with a plan. i hit up the party store saturday morning for their overpriced, low quality spooky gear! i found a better detective hat and a lab coat...yes, i know, it's no trench coat, but i thought it would work. i brought it home and presented both to andrew as "the detective costume from the halloween store." he took one look at the coat and said "it's not a detective coat. it's white." ummmm.....gotcha mom! thanks for taking time to try and be creative while saving my halloween...NOT!!! without a detective costume and only hours to go before the party, andrew had to make a change...he decided to be a baseball player and wear his tball uniform. GENIUS i thought! party was attended...all was great!

one prob...could the stuff from the overpriced party store be returned....YES...until monday (TODAY!) so...first errand this morning was returning the hat and coat. DONE.CHECK.MONEY BACK.PHEW!

then came today's conversation...

andrew: "mom, i can't be a baseball player for halloween because it's just an outfit not a costume."

me: "well, it's also a costume. it's something you have to change into. just like carter and ben are going to be football players for halloween. you'll be a baseball player."

andrew: "better idea mom. i'll be luke skywalker. we already have the white coat."

SHIT SHIT SHIT........ANDREW DOES NOT KNOW I RETURNED THE WHITE COAT TODAY...QUICK AMY CHANGE THE TOPIC...END CONVERSATION...

Sunday, October 24, 2010

FALLin' behind....

I know, it's a pretty lame play on words, but it's the truth! Once again, even though I promised myself not to, I have FALLen behind on my blog. Writing is something I enjoy so much and really should make more time for. My good friend Robyn started a blog about 1 1/2 years ago and promised herself she'd write every other day...and she is really good at sticking to that. She then published her blog into a book, based on an idea I had given her. I am hoping to do that too, so I really want to keep up with the writing.
We've had a lot of fun over the past 3 weeks (since my last entry)...and the boys have had a chance to spend time alone with me one weekend and Derek another. While I can't speak for Derek's weekend with the boys (they said it was great), I can tell you that mine was AWESOME! We had a full weekend and really had a lot of fun!
The weekend started off with a sleepover for Andrew and our next door neighbor Natalie. We had a pizza party, baked cookies, watched a movie, read lots of books....and they finally fell asleep around 11pm. Minus the fact that they were up at 5:45am, it was a successful sleepover!

baking cookies

sleepover time :)
6am...up and ready to roll!

Saturday morning, I took the boys to Picture People for professional pics. This is something I haven't done since Andrew turned one! I hate paying for them and sometimes they just turn out so bad, it's not worth the time, effort or money. However, I had received a coupon for 6 sheets of pics for $18 (normally it's $18/sheet), so I figured it would be worth it to head over there. WOW...was I right! The photographer was awesome and the pics are amazing!!! The pics were so good, that the salesperson talked me into joining their "Portrait Club"...so rather than spending the $18 I had planned, I walked out with my membership card and $58.75 less in my wallet!!! Hopefully we'll make it back there every few months and actually USE the membership benefits :)

From there, we headed to the Fire Station for their Open House. As always, the boys had a blast and walked away with balloons, fire hats and big smiles! Jacob was a little afraid of the men in uniform and wasn't willing to get too close to them or the trucks. Hence, why Andrew is the only one in those pics!




After the Fire House, we headed home for lunch and some much needed down time....we still had a full night ahead of us! Around 4pm, we headed out to Brambleton to a Fall Festival in my sister's neighborhood. Andrew absolutely SHOCKED me with his new found bravery! He hopped right on the rides...and even a PONY! It was his first pony ride EVER! I was so very proud of him! We had our fill of games/rides/etc. and headed back to my sister's for pizza. Then several of her neighbors came over...the kids played while the adults hung out...and then we had a sleepover there. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful relationship with my sister and we just LOVE the close friendship our children share. They are like brothers and sisters, more so than just cousins!








We left their house around 11am on Sunday, and headed straight to a birthday party at Kids In Motion. I've shared with you before how much we LOVE this place...and once again, the kids had a great time!




We came home after the party just in time to clean the house and pick up Derek at the metro.
I can honestly say that this was one of the BEST weekends I've had with the kids! We all had so much fun, despite the over scheduling that may have occurred on my part :)

Here are some other fun pics from events over the past few weeks...enjoy!

Celebrating Ari & Shirin's wedding at National Harbour

Leigh & Me with the beautiful bride, Shirin


Celebrating Lisa's Bridal Shower
Staci, Leigh & I with the "towel wedding cake"
Lisa showing off her ribbon hat
Me, mom and Leigh

So...there you have it...I am all caught up! Sorry for the long post, but it feels good to get it done...now, on to the next thing...laundry :)

 
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