CHUCK E. CHEESE!!

Owen has wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for quite some time now. Neither Tom nor I wanted to go because the food really sucks and it’s just a money pit. So, we told Owen that he could go when Uncle Rob came down (that way it would be seen as a super special treat and he wouldn’t ask us to go all the time). He was actually very good about being patient—it’s probably been over a year that we’ve been telling him this.

So when we learned that Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob were going to be here this week, Owen knew what was going to happen! And boy was he exited!

Me: So who’s all going to Chuck E. Cheese?
Owen: Me and Uncle Rob.
Me: Just you and Uncle Rob? Not daddy?
Owen: No! Daddy, too. But not Grandma or you or Katie. Just the three boys!

The plan was to take separate cars to see Santa and then the boys would go to the restaurant and the girls would go home. I figure why get Katie excited about it when she really didn’t care to start with. I did, however, make Tom promise to take pictures. 🙂

These are the two pics Tom texted me.

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I really really hoped he had taken more than that…and he had! 🙂 I saw these when he got home.

His $45 “prize”—a Dory fish from Finding Nemo.

Yes, they spent about $45 total on food, drinks, and games…and he only got a trinket worth about 49¢. It was a great lesson…we asked him if he’d rather have the little fish or a big Lego set. He obviously choose the Lego set. He was surprised that he could have had something so big instead of something so small. We said it was okay to go and play games and have fun, but it was really expensive so that’s why it was a super special treat that we didn’t do very often. He said from now on he’d rather have the Legos. 🙂

Santa Visit (Fail) 2014

I didn’t want to wait in any long lines so after requesting advice from a local facebook group, we decided to visit the Santa at the new Gander Mountain. Both kids hadn’t been able to stop talking about seeing Santa and they were SUPER excited leading up to the day…until we actually saw him, at which point neither kid wanted ANYTHING to do with him. Owen hid in a clothes rack and Katie begrudgingly got carried up by daddy. (And this is precisely why I didn’t want to spend any amount of time waiting in a line.)

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This was their best shot. Not too bad. It was actually neat—they took the picture with an iPad and then emailed it to you right then and there.

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After Katie was done, Owen decided he wanted to try again…so we tried to get them both on Santa’s lap. Ha. Ha ha. This time, Owen was pretty good, but Katie was still being a poop. This is the best one they got.

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This was the best one I managed to get. Good times!

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Then they had a green screen photo shoot and this is the background Owen picked:

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Then the girls headed out to Target while the boys went on their super special trip to Chuck E. Cheese!!

We got our family photo!

Before heading out to see Santa, we had Uncle Rob take a few shots. Amazingly, the very first one was the winner! We hadn’t even tried to get Maggie in it, but she jumped right up!

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I don’t love myself in it, but since everyone—including the dog!!—is actually looking at the camera with eyes open and mostly smiling faces…I consider it a win!

Owenisms 58

Owen was reading his school book. It asked what else was in the woods.
Owen: Turtles.
Me: Yes, what else?
Owen: Squirrels.
Me: Yes, what else?
Owen: Parrots.
Me: No.
Owen: No, they live on pirate ships.

Owen: It smells like Gramma Jean’s house.
Me: ??!
Ahhhh. Then it hit me. We had left the heat on overnight so he smelled “heat” and it reminded him of GJ’s house.

We were eating muffins for breakfast. I was also heating up cider in the microwave. When it beeped:
Owen: Are you having a second breakfast?!

Owen: Mama, wanna play football with me? Wait. You don’t know football.

Tom was opening a can of pop.
Katie: Is that sodee pop?
Me: Why does she say sodee pop?
Owen: Because she doesn’t know how to say Dr. Pepper.

Acorn Christmas Wreaths

Look familiar, Gramma Jean?!

Each kid got their own wreath. For Katie, I glued the strips and then let her put them on. She was only interested for about eight strips, so we put it away then tried again another time—at which point we got another handful of strips on. I ended up finishing hers for her because I wanted it finished before March. She was, however, more interested in the acorns—she’d tell me where to put the glue then she’d put the acorn on.

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Honestly, Owen’s attention span wasn’t much better—it took him two times to get the strips done and then another time for the acorns.

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And Owen fixing my wreath by adding an acorn that’s been missing for as long as I can remember:

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But, I think it’s time to finally retire the wreath I made in pre-school (age 3)…

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Katieisms 11

I had put all my hair in a clip on top of my head just to get it out of the way.
Katie, noticing it: WOW!! You have crazy hair!

Katie: Mom, I have something to tell you. She touches my slippers. I love your shoes. She touches my sweater. I love your coat. She touches my hair. I love your hair.

Katie and I were grocery shopping. As we were walking to the checkout, she got excited:
Katie: Mama! Potions!
Me: What?
Katie, pointing: Potions!
Me: Looking…looking… AHA!

Thank you, Sofia the First!

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We just signed Owen up for T-ball this spring!

Owen has been asking about playing baseball again and we told him we’d look into it…so I asked a few parents and got some basic info, but honestly didn’t DO anything. And then today, a flyer got sent home about T-ball/baseball starting up in the spring. Well there we go.

With his age bracket, it’s going to be pretty much like the last time he played (with the special needs group) in that everyone on the roster bats each inning, everyone is in the outfield, there are parents helping on both sides, and there are only three innings. The differences are they spend time learning the rules of the game, the names of the positions, the basic game plays (outs, runs, etc.), and how to catch and hit.

I know he won’t like the T-ball part of it because he can actually hit the ball, but the FAQ said that they will get pitches if the skill test determines he’s ready. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Tom is super excited for this—hoping to help out at games and maybe some practices. I’m somewhat looking forward to it because I know they’ll love it, but all I see right now is $$$ for stuff (registration, equipment, uniforms) and running him to and from practices. Thankfully, most of the practices will be about two miles from the house (and right across from the library, so maybe Katie and I can hang out there during some practices).

It doesn’t start until spring, though, so we all have time to prepare. 🙂

Owen has…we’re not sure.

He’s had a cough for the past month but it’s gotten a lot worse over the past week so today I took him in just in case it was something that could be fixed.

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Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The doc said everything sounded fine in his chest and there really wasn’t anything definitive wrong. It was likely just random crud. He advised allergy meds to hopefully dry him out.

So we’ll see. At least he feels okay otherwise.