FREE Museum Day!

This past Saturday was FREE museum day at certain museums across the country. And it was Growing Up Californian at the San Bernardino County Museum. Erik and I had already decided to take the girls to the museum and then we found out about the FREE museum day and lucky for us the San Bernardino County Museum was one on the list! Yay! We are so determined to get out of debt in 6 months so this was an added bonus for us, we ended up saving about $30!

We got to see everything in the few hours that we had to spend there, I had to get back to catch my ride to the Relief Society Broadcast later that evening!

We saw all the stuffed animals, real stuffed animals not toys! We saw all the eggs, Erik and I though that the eggs would be the kind of boring to the girls but, Emma was begging to go see the eggs! Go figure.

We got to see the display on local architecture through the ages, really really interesting to Erik and I, not so much to the girls. Luckily they had blocks for the girls to build their own buildings and pictures to color.

We also got to see the live animals. The girls got to pet the rabbit and see all the different lizards, bugs, and snakes! Have I mentioned how much the girls love animals, any kind of animals?

We also got to attend the Growing Up Californian for FREE! The girls got to learn how it was to grow up as a child when California was first being settled.

They got to take a turn at washing, rinsing, wringing, drying, and ironing clothes. They got to beat rugs and make candles. They got to see and play with some toys from that time period. They made butter and ground up corn into cornmeal.

We all learned alot and had a great time doing it!

Mia washing clothes

Emma wringing out the clothes

Emma hanging up clothes to dry

Mia ironing

Emma beating the rug

Girls making candles

Girls grinding corn into cornmeal

Mia playing with the cup and ball

Emma playing with the hoop and stick

Mia playing with the hoop and stick

Fun At Downtown Disney

So as if the Fair wasn't enough the next day we decided to take the girls to Downtown Disney. Well, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision.

After they got back from their sleepover they asked what we were doing that day and I said oh, probably nothing. Wrong answer! Then came the can we go to Build A Bear?

Since we didn't have anything else planned until that evening we figured sure why not?

The girls have been saving their money so they could go to Build A Bear! And yes there is a Build A Bear closer, but the one at Downtown Disney is SOOOO big. So, we figured that for their first Build A Bear bought with their own money we would go all out!

I told you it is BIG!

So we all loaded up in the car and off we went.

Our first stop was the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. We love the Rainforest Cafe, though not the prices. We had never eaten at the one there, an the girls had a FREE Kids Meal certificate from the Library Reading Game this summer. So we figured we might as well make a day of it!

Waiting to get seated!

After the Rainforest Cafe we finally got to go to Build A Bear. (The girls were so excited they could barely eat their lunch!) Emma chose the elephant that she named Ella and Mia chose the new Hannah Montana Bear that she named Hannah!

It was so cute watching them be so serious in their choices. We even snuck in some math, they had to make sure that they had enough money to cover what they were buying. Of course they wanted everything, but had to make some hard choices. Overall, I think that they are both very happy!

Girls out front before we go in. Thanks for being so patient with me girls!

Mia stuffing Hannah!

Emma stuffing Ella!

Emma washing Ella

Mia washing Hannah

Fun Day At The Fair

Wow, it's been awhile since we updated the blog! Things have been super crazy busy here!

Anyway, on the 19th of September we went to the LA County Fair with Greg, Beronica, and their kids. Erik was even able to take the day off and come with us! Yay!!! The girls love doing anything, but they love it even more when dad is able to be part of it.

I was able to get us FREE parking passes and FREE admission to the fair through one of the home school groups we belong to. We were able to cover Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, PE, we even managed to squeeze in some Math! I love homeschooling!

We had a great day at the fair walking around with Greg, Beronica and the kids. We visited so many things. I think that the kids favorite part was the the Big Red Barn, not a favorite for the dads who were busy fighting allergies. But they were troopers, there wasn't even any whining!

Dads watching on while the moms and kids play in the petting area!

Petting the goats. . .

and the sheep!

There was even a dress up place at the fair! Of course the kids loved it! What kids don't love to dress up and pretend to be something?

Emma cooking dinner for Daddy.

Notice that she has broccoli and chicken, her favorites!

Cowgirl Mia!

Chase and Savannah playing with the cars.

There were so many fun things for the kids to do and see and touch! They even got to pet a horse at the 4-H booth and pet a snake! The girls love animals so this was quite a treat for them. They would love to live on a farm, though I don't think Erik could handle it with his allergies. I'm sure the girls would rather keep Daddy around than live on a farm!

Petting the snake. The girls have no fear!

The girls petting the horse!

Cousins "riding the range"

New this year for school aged kids was a chance to get FREE ride tickets. They had to read 6 books and do a short book report on each book read and they would get 9 FREE tickets! The girls worked hard and diligently reading and writing! They got their tickets and were so excited. We bought a couple extra tickets so they could each ride two ride. They chose. . .

The carousel and. . .

the tilt a whirl!

All in all we had a great day with tons of fun! But the fun did not end there, the girls went to a friends house for a sleepover and Erik and I had a night to ourselves.

Happy Birthday, Miriam!

Have a Magical Birthday, Miriam!

Today is Mriam's 7th birthday! Boy do they grow up fast! It seems like just yesterday. . .

Anyway, she has already had a few parties, one with the family, one with her friends and we did our own immediate family party on Saturday because Erik is in Kansas for work this week. This is the first time that he has missed her birthday.

For her "birthday day" she wanted waffles for breakfast and pizza for dinner. She chose angel food cake with whipped topping and strawberries!

She got makeup, a movie, a CD, and the twister pink game. Emma gave her a Polly Pocket. So, she made out pretty good, and she got her presents a few days early!

Mia Keeps Losing Teeth!

Mia lost two more teeth yesterday! I think the tooth fairy just camps outside her bedroom window now. It saves time that way! ;)

Birthday Slumber Party!

The girls had their combined birthday slumber party last weekend! They had invited eight friends but only six could make it, and believe me six was plenty!

We made homemade personal pizzas for dinner, everyone got to put whatever toppings they wanted on their pizza. A trick I learned from my mom, having nine kids that all liked different things she's got tons of little tricks like that! Thanks mom!

While they were eating they watched Cinderella III: A Twist In Time.

We rented Disney Princesses for Wii, and the girls had a blast playing that all evening. They all did a really good job of sharing and taking turns. It also helped that we let them get on the Internet and play on Disney.com.

After the girls blew out the candles they opened up their presents. They got some really cool toys and things.

The girls picked just a plain white cake in a heart shape with flowers, but it had to be decorated with yellow and pink icing. Because pink is Mia's favorite color and yellow is Emma's. Well, I cheated I had leftover icing from their cake for the family party on Monday so I used the leftover to ice this cake. We also had cookies and cream ice cream to go with the cake.

Three of the girls had to leave early the next morning because they had soccer games so they actually went to bed at a decent time. We took the TV/VCR into their room and let them vote on a movie to watch while they were "falling asleep." They chose Pochantas.

They were actually all asleep by the time I went to bed. I had to stay up making the rest of the bread into cinnamon rolls for the next morning.

I had to get up early to cook the cinnamon rolls, most of the girls were already awake whispering and playing in the girls' bedroom.

After breakfast they played more Wii and Computer games. Until it was late enough that we could go outside and break open the pinata.

Then it was more playing until moms came to get them. All in all I think everyone had a good time!

Mia and Emma getting ready to blow out the candles!

All the girls that were at the party outside before hitting the pinata.

Mia and Emma chose a Unicorn pinata!

And of course the silly picture! It cracks me up every time I look at it!

Brother, Can You Spare A Video Camera?

Does anybody have a video camera they can lend me? Either a digital video camera or a video camera that connects to the yellow and white A/V cables?

It would be for a couple of weeks.

Mia Lost Another Tooth

Mia has lost her third tooth! She lost it yesterday while eating breakfast! She was so excited she walked around all day smiling at people.

The tooth fairy came last night and left her a whole dollar!

Girls And Their Clothes

What is up with girls having soooo many clothes? I definitely include myself in this! I have clothes that I hope to fit back into some day, clothes I wear now, and clothes that I'm keeping just because. Why do we do this? I know that I when I get down to the size I want to be I will then go shopping and get really cute clothes, so why am I still hanging on to the other clothes?

I have decided that I need to simplify my life, I know I make this decision every couple months! Anyway, I am going to go through my closet and get rid of anything that doesn't fit, I don't wear, or is just plain ugly!

I finally was able to go through all the baby clothes that I was keeping from when the girls were babies. What's the point in keeping a ton of baby clothes when you can't have anymore kids? It was hard, all the memories, remembering when the girls were little. And then all the depressing thoughts about not being able to have anymore kids. But I got through it. I kept a small tub of a few special pieces of clothing, but I got rid of the rest!

And you know what, now that it's done I'm ready to attack all of the other things that need to be done. Here's the bad part though, both Erik and I are both pack rats! Yikes! But at least now I'm in purging mode.

Speaking of clothes, my mom got Mia and Emma 2 dresses each for their birthdays. They each wore one of their new dresses to "Mammy's church" for Leilani's baby blessing. The girls looked so cute and Leilani is just a gorgeous little baby!

Christian's Birthday Party!

Michelle and Dustin had Christian's birthday party at Jumping Jacks. It is a big place that has tons of jumping things inside! And I mean tons. There are mazes, slides, obstacle courses, and of course the big bounce houses. The adults, I mean big boys, liked the one that was set up like a big boxing ring complete with humongous boxing gloves! They had fun beating each other up.

The kids had a good time as well!

Mia having fun coming out of one of the obstacle courses!

Emma coming down the pinball slide!

Chase on the slide!

Christian on the slide!