Five Years Old

Abigail turned five last week. We celebrated on her birthday with a quick visit to Chuck E Cheese to use some tokens we had (daddy took the day off), then our birthday dinner of mac n cheese and applesauce, and santa claus cupcakes from safeway that she had picked out the day before. Lets just say that the neon green frosting was not digestible and came out the next day in the toilet/diaper. Lovely! She got a basketball hoop from the grandparents that she opened that night and loves to play on.

Did you know that Chuck E Cheese has a line dance that he does when he comes out during his 'live performance'? Yes, and since my kids were the only white ones there they just stared at all of the happily dancing kiddos and mouse. It was quite hilarious.

We had about 12 kids over on Friday night for her pizza and movie party. We did a make your own pizza night, complete with games and a Dora pinata, and then watched a short movie. It was our first attempt at a drop-off party and actually went quite well, with the help of Aunt Gail, Ben, Nani and Daddy. All of the kids had a fun time and they really got into the pinata activity. There was also much running around the backyard in the pitch black screaming and general mayhem in our living room.

Abigail used an entire container of sprinkles on the cupcakes! Dora the pinata, or a Dora look alike. Can't beat $5 at FoodMaxx. Her leg fell off first and the kids thought that was pretty hilarious.

Thanksgiving

The girls listening to some tunes before our trip to Novato.

We spent the day in Novato with the gparents, my mom (dad was still overseas), Aunt Gail, and Uncle Ben. We watched football and the parade, played outside in the great weather, and enjoyed a yummy meal. Abigail wanted to make decorations for the table and so we traced out leaves and colored them. She then made everyone name tags with masking tape, like they do at our nursery at church, and we all had to wear them. That's what the tape on Jeremy and Abigail is for. She was a real ham at the dinner table, cracking us all up with the games she invented. We played a funny version of Simon Says, which Grandad won, and then we had to guess what she was thinking (no clues or hints...it was 'cow jumped over the moon'). Aunt Gail won that one after some help from Abigail. Olivia slept through the meal, which was actually nice since it allowed me to eat :) Just before we left, Olivia did manage to eat a couple handfuls of caffeinated coffee grounds from the trash can. They actually slept in the next day, so maybe she can have that every night!

Gilroy Gardens

We spent a Saturday in November at Gilroy Gardens and the girls had a blast. Both girls loved riding all of the rides with our friends the Burtchs and the day was warm and beautiful. With the exception of the Icee crisis, upon which Olivia threw herself onto the ground for a serious fit after not being granted the ability to drink from the cup, the girls held it together during the busy day. And no we did NOT buy Abigail that hat!

Halloween

The girls had a blast this Halloween. Abigail really got into all of the festivities, and Olivia was quite pleased with the amount of junk she was allowed to eat. We went to our church fall festival for a few hours and then I did some trick or treating with Abigail after dark while Jeremy cheered on the Giants at home and we put to bed our very cranky chicken.

The hit of the night was that Abigail won a fish! Abigal was determined to win one and waited in a long line three times because the the teenager running that game wasn't giving her any help. It was one of those throw a ping pong into a bowl games and she finally had luck on her last try. The fishs' full name is Nemo Pumpkin and he is alive to date. I am skeptical about his life expectancy. He eats the food but doesn't really like to swim around. What fish doesn't swim around? Jeremy says it's because our 'tank' is so lame (basically a plastic container) but I am not spending any real $ on the thing until it lives a few months. Anyways, Abigail doesn't have high hopes for him either. She really likes him, but she has mentioned to several friends/family that he will probably die soon. I think daddy might have clued her into that. She wanted to take a picture of Nemo to send to her friend Vincent so that he could see Nemo before he died, and when Aunt Ruth said that maybe she would see the pet when she came next Abigail calmly replied that she wouldn't since he would be dead by then. A little morbid, but maybe it will prepare her for when it happens. She was also excited to report to Aunt Gail that she now has two pets, since Cupcake the spider has again taken up residence in our kitchen. He seems to be inviting some of his friends too so that might have to end soon.

Zoo Fun and Barney Takes on McDonalds

Watched our friend Kyrie today and took all three girls to the zoo for some Halloween fun. We got quite a few looks as we trotted around with three girls and one pregnant lady. Despite some drizzles, they all had a blast.


Kyrie and Olivia's 'serious' face as she was watching the music performance.

Olivia's 1st ride on the train - a big hit - and Abigail feeding Kyrie later that afternoon. She was such a big help.

This is the outfit Abigail chose for her date night with Jeremy last week. They went to McDonalds and then the Dollar Store for some shopping.

In other news, Abigail is currently praying for all of the lost dogs in our neighborhood. When out driving she notices the signs posted on telephone poles and we pray for each one. It is very cute. She also is currently lobbying for a dog but having no success with her parentals.

More Catching Up

So I find myself behind again in posting, so here's another catchup round.

We went to the Clayton Pumpkin Patch with friends from church at the beginning of October. It was about 100 degrees and we had a lot of fun. Olivia particularly liked the big pool full of lima beans. She also liked running through the hay maze with the big kids. She wasn't scared a bit.

Olivia was quite pleased with her new Kicks cereal container, the humidifier.

The first ride in our fancy 'new' car, a 2005 Honda Odyssey. Abigail was MOST excited that her window rolls down. That's really the only feature that she cared about. I am getting used to driving a bigger vehicle. Parking is not quite my speciality yet.

We visited Palm Desert with our friends down the street the Coffeys. They graciously invited us to stay at their lovely condo for a few days. Olivia stayed with Nani and Papa so we had some alone time with Abigail. She LOVED the pool, the waterslide, and got really comfortable in the water. She did the best swimming she has yet and we could hardly get her out of the water. It was a wonderful, relaxing time together.

On the way to the desert, we visited the Stockwells and the beach. Had a great time, even got to see an iridium flare from a satellite. Abigail told us last night as we were driving home in the dark that she saw another one, so we may have a budding astronomer.

Swimming with Aunt Ruth and Gail at Ms. Dean's pool.

Gail and Ben are engaged! We had a lovely party for them at the park. Well, actually the Wilsons provided the party and we just showed up. It was a bit chilly, so Abigail decided to hang out with the grandparents under the covers. It ended up a good choice since Papa got those three all hot chocolates from Starbucks. Jeremy asked Abigail for a sip and her response was well, you should have asked papa earlier for one.

Olivia in her rare forms. Insisted on wearing two pairs of Abigail's panties over her diaper, and making herself a complete mess at the park.

Olivia enjoying her donut, and the whole gang. We had a great weekend with the extended Schroeder family. Also really enjoyed meeting the Wilson clan.

Catching Up

We haven't posted in a while and so have some catching up to do. Thought I would just include some photos of what's been going on in our household.

Abigail and Zoe in their matching dresses and silly faces.

The Jelly Belly Factory tour was a big hit. Abigail (and Olivia too) was most impressed with the free jelly beans at the end, along with the special hats.

This is a fairly normal picture of what our mornings look like. Olivia loves chewing on her toothbrush and both girls are obsessed with pulling out every pair of my shoes and wearing them around the house. They are both actually pretty good at wearing heels. Yes, they can walk around in these already!

We had a really fun Saturday at Marine World with Nani, Papa, and Aunt Gail. I don't have that great pictures from the day, but both girls really liked the rides and the shows. There were plenty of rides they could go on, Abigail got to pet an elephant, and Jeremy/Gail/Nani were the wild roller coaster riders. Olivia spent a long time at one of the water features and got soaking wet. She also showed no fear on any of the rides and laughed louder the more she was spinning around. She's going to be quite adventuresome.