mitt romney

*We have some friends who always have a huge variety of cereal stocked in their pantry. Recently we had the idea of having a, "cereal for dinner" night. It was such fun for the kids (and Chris and I) to sample a few different kinds. My friend introduced the kids to a super decadent combo: Golden Grahams topped with mini marshmallows served in chocolate milk! Yes, they were fans. :)

Sidenote: The kids did not go swimming, however Kendall insisted on wearing her swimsuit which doubled as a gymnastics outfit. They have some kids gymnastics equipment in their living room that she loves to play on.

*Today I accompanied Kendall's class on a field trip to Oak Glen. She was very excited to have me sit on the bus with her. :)

*Last night Chris was gone and so I was on the hunt for something to watch. I ended up with a documentary on Mitt Romney. It was fascinating.  I've never been super into politics, however I found the family dynamic that went along with running for president (as well as all that goes into the campaign) really interesting.

*I got my latest issue of Food Network Magazine in the mail today. Want to guess what the favorite Halloween candy is? Snickers.

orange chicken

*Yesterday we went to a different library to check out the latest Harry Potter book. I had it on hold at several so he was SUPER excited to have a copy come available. This library lets you renew up to 9 times. This will come in quite handy considering this fourth book is over 700 pages!! We got started before we even left the library. :)

*This morning the kids took part in a 1K race. Their cousins also ran and they had a GREAT time. Cameron was a little nervous when he saw all the kids, but he was such a champ and both kids said they wanted to do another one. It was SUCH fun to see them running!!!

*Later in the day I dropped the kids off at my sister's and went to Costco. They had a coupon for one of our dinner favorites, Orange Chicken. I bought two boxes!!! It's such an easy, yummy dinner.

*Since the Giants playoff game wasn't broadcast on regular network TV this afternoon, Chris had to resort to watching it on an App he found he could download to my Kindle. :)

cartwheels

*On Tuesday my sister and I joined my mom in her drive to the airport to pick up my dad. He had been in Ethiopia and Uganda the past couple of weeks on a missions trip. Susan brought a few of these energy balls she had recently made. I will definitely be making a batch because they were very yummy.

*While we were gone to the airport, the dads and cousins got together. Dinner was at In & Out. Cameron was very excited to conquer his first Double Double. :)

*Kendall came home yesterday from her dance elective with the assignment to practice cartwheels. I tried to show her how to do some but quickly realized they are hard to teach! Hmmm...we'll keep working...take a look.

*Last night was a Giants playoff game. Chris had been very excited so we planned a baseball party. We've done this before and it merely consists of some fun food for dinner with us all eating in the living room. The kids think it's quite special.

free museum

*My substitute orientation went as expected...pretty uneventful. :) It will still be a couple of weeks until I'm processed. They seem to be in pretty desperate need of subs, so I should have no trouble getting jobs. :)

*Last night my mom had all five cousins over for a sleepover (my dad is in Uganda so this was by herself!!). Chris and I had some money left on a Claim Jumper gift card so we took advantage of our free night. I have not had the Motherload in probably 10 years. We got a slice and dropped a hunk off at my sister's since she is an equal chocolate lover. We both agreed that it was yummy, but so is a chocolate cake made from a box...and you can bake an entire one for less than one slice of the Motherload.

*Last night I was on the hunt for something to do today. I came across a free family day at the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert. So after picking up the kids at my mom's, we headed out. First we made a lunch stop, of course, at Costco. :)

When we first arrived to the museum, we weren't sure we would last long. It was very, very, very crowded. Cameron and Kendall skipped several exhibits simply because of the number of kids. However we stumbled upon a few activities that kept them quite happy and we ended up having a really nice time (definitely worth the free admission!)

*Has anyone seen any of the Buzzfeed vidoes? I've seen a couple and they have been super funny. This one about weird things couples do on dates is SOOO funny. Chris and I totally laughed at the "no dessert for us....the frozen yogurt" part. :)

harry potter

*A friend of mine told me about a recipe for Korean Beef. I tried it the other night. Chris gave it a 9! Cam loved it, I loved it, and Kendall was so-so :)  It is SO easy and the ingredients are typically ones you always have on hand. This will definitely be a repeat!

*A few days ago Cam and I finished the 3rd Harry Potter book. Last night we watched the movie. It was cute how into it he was. :) Eating his dinner while watching:

*Since we were occupied with the movie, Chris and Kendall had a date of their own out to dinner.

*This morning I have an orientation at our school district for substitute teachers. I'm hoping to do a couple days a week. It has been 12 years since I've subbed. Hopefully kids aren't too different...

pumpkin spice

*Several weeks ago Chris purchased something that we both said was the best $7 he had spent in a long time. It was a U.S. Road Atlas for Cam. It was right before a trip up to Fresno and Cameron looked at that thing almost the whole way. He still never likes to be without it in the car. :)

*Much of my food prep energies are spent on school snack foods for the kids. I also spend a lot of time prepping Chris' snack stuff. Yes, he could get his own snacks, but he likes help in eating healthy so I enjoy coming up with things he will eat. You see, his idea of a snack does not include something like a chick pea peanut butter cookie. :) Here are few I have in rotation:

--1/2 a tortilla spread with hummus and wrapped around a piece of string cheese

--Almonds and raisins

--Cut up fruit with almonds sprinkled on top

--Cottage cheese with pears

--Crackers or apples with peanut butter

*This past weekend I forgot to mention where Cam slept. Our room had the most enormous shower I have ever seen. It made for a perfect "bedroom" for Cam (thanks to an Aerobed). :)

*I have never jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon when it comes to coffee. I know the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks is quite the "thing", but blech. :) Pumpkin baked goods like muffins and cookies (or my favorite cake in the whole world)? Yes, please.

relaxing weekend

After Noonie and Deb stayed with us this past week, they drove to Palm Springs to their time share. On Friday we, along with Chris' brother's family, joined them for the weekend. We had a wonderful time. The above picture of Kendall pretty much sums up the majority of what the kids spent their time doing. :)

Cameron never lets a little vacation stop him from waking up before dawn. :) However his 5:30 wake ups on this trip actually allowed he and I to have some really quiet, sweet reading times together. Both mornings (once the sun came up) we sat out on the back patio and read Harry Potter. It was so quiet outside and those times became highlights of the trip for both of us. 

The kids loved being with their cousins. Here they are playing a game with the dads.

The condo/hotel also had an arcade where you can see I'm attempting to play Frogger :)

Here is everyone before round two of swimming on Saturday. The kids were exhausted by the time the evening rolled around. I don't think my kids had ever swam for that long in one day!

It was such fun to be together for a couple nights. Thank you, Noonie and Deb, for inviting us on such a great weekend getaway! :)