As the year is ending, Peyton’s had a lot of excitement at school.  Tomorrow is the culmination of their pre-school skills as the students participate in the shoebox float parade.  Each student gets a letter, number or shape and has to decorate a shoebox to match their assignment.  Then the students pull their floats around the elementary to show off their creations.

Last year Peyton has the triangle.  Only we never got the paperwork (out of the back of daddy’s car) and didn’t realize it was such a big deal, so mommy quickly pulled together a shoebox decorated with triangles to look like a crocodile.  It was pretty sweet, but Peyton wasn’t involved.

This year we made sure to take care of things in advance.

Peyton had the letter P, so since receiving our assignment, we’ve been brainstorming, discussing, and drafting his shoebox.  Here are some pics:

First step: paint the cover for the shoebox.  Peyton chose Purple and yellow – a nice pair of complementary colors.

Step 2: affix some wheels.  We chose an extra-large model-type car.  I was going to tie the car to the top (upside down) of the shoe box, but the pencil stuck nicely.

Another view of the wheels:

Step 3: Wrap and decorate the box!  We went with a “Party” theme – you see Pepsi, Presents (a pig, puppies and a wrapped present), a paper plate with pepperoni pizza, popcorn, pretzels, peppermints, and don’t forget the pumpkin pie!  Peyton is SO proud of his project!

Funny how this project has somehow made me the best mamma ever   I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

This is a special weekend for Peyton. This is his very first tenting adventure.
Okay, so the tent is in the backyard, but it’s a TENT! TENT! How cool is that? And not only does he get to sleep in a tent for the very first time EVER, but DADDY is sleeping with him in his super cool TENT!

And what perfect weather for his tenting adventure. Today was gorgeous! We went to church together, and since we’re on unity services now we had no trouble getting out the door on time – well, half hour early, actually! Thank you to all the veterans out there who gave their lives so we could do a simple thing like go to church. After church and lunch Lauren napped nicely (yay) while Mommy ate in peace and rested in the recliner. Half-way through Lauren’s nap, Peyton came to sit by me and ended up falling asleep (yay!). He even stayed asleep when Lauren woke up at an appropriate time (how good can life get!).

We played outside AGAIN today, and let me tell you, sunblock hair has a mind of its own.  Despite the ‘do, Lauren is getting the hang of driving Peyton’s tractor. Yes, you read that right. Remember Peyton’s Gator HPX truck? Lauren figured out how to drive it. Yes, she has to stand up to reach the pedal, and stand ON the pedal to keep it down, but she is SO pleased with herself when she drives around in circles on the lawn!

[making faces with brother]

At 4 I popped our wonderful tri-tip de Cosco in the oven and ran to the grocery store for graham crackers, roasting stick-thingies, and then to Uncle Gordon’s for wood…can you see where this is going? YES! We had our very first bonfire (okay, maybe it wasn’t a bonfire, but it was fire nonetheless) in our very own firepit (a second-hand gift from some friends) in our very own backyard. On the way back from those errands, however, we noticed a very strange sight: on the main street leading to our street there was a naked toddler in the middle of the [30 mph] street! I pulled over and got out, expecting his momma to come running out of the house after him, but no one came. Another driver pulled over – she’d been coming down the small street and saw him before I pulled over. She thought maybe he was mine, but no, and still no mummy. Poor little guy – he was probably 2, and he couldn’t speak (or understand us?) when we questioned him about his home. There was a cat he was chasing – probably the reason he got lost. Anyway, the woman’s sister lived a few houses down, and though she didn’t recognize the boy, she thought maybe he belonged a bit down the street from her. She wrapped him in a towel and the sisters took him…hopefully. I would have loved to go along to see him home, but my own kids (and Ji Young) were in the car, so I went home. I hope there’s a good reason why mom and dad didn’t see the little guy sneak off, and I hope that never happens again.
After dinner we struck up the fire (which took a while but was well worth it) and Lauren tried her very first marshmallow ever…and loved it, of course – “num-nums!” But alas, it was bedtime and she was super-crabby, so to bed she went, and Mommy, Daddy, Ji Young and Peyton (and Bella) enjoyed the fire and a few smores (each) while it lasted (a bit shorter than we hoped, but perfect at the same time, since we didn’t have to put it out ourselves).

I think Lauren wanted to sleep in the tent, too.  Unfortunately, I think that’d mean no one else would get to sleep in the tent.

Peyton loves s’mores.

Lauren enjoying her first marshmallow on Daddy’s lap.

It’s 10:30 now; Daddy tucked Peyton in at close to 9 (after the basketball game).  I expected daddy to come back in, as he left the TV on Sports Center (no, Ji Young and I aren’t big fans).  But now, and hour and a half later, he hasn’t come out.  They must have both been exhausted.  As I am – it’s time for bed…but Ji Young is watching Jumanji, and I’ve seen the hook…and now I’m not sure if I want to go to sleep…I’ll let you know later…

I guess I sort of forgot about blogging. Could be a result of a mundane lifestyle, or perhaps it could be blamed on facebook’s bejeweled blitz app.
Anyway, James is at the Mariner’s game, and the kids are sleeping, so I have a few minutes to catch up on pics that I haven’t uploaded since April 20! Seriously, my memory card on my camera was full, and that does NOT happen often!
Though the first few pics of Lauren in her adorable swimming gear are from today, the rest of the pics start with Peyton’s first soccer game and follow chronologically after that.
Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=vv8ykdd.69052w6p&x=0&y=dk49jg&localeid=en_US

Ran out of battery last night, and lazy me didn’t want to go plug in the computer in the other room to finish the post…besides, we wanted to watch Liam Neeson’s Taken, which was awesome. Every teenage girl who thinks she wants to travel the world needs to watch it AT LEAST to remind herself of how evil and dangerous the world can be if she isn’t careful.
More vocabulary from Lauren: hi is an old one that I forgot to add to the list; epp-ie/ebby is help me or help please, eee is eat, up is up, dow is down; she also says owwwieeee, baby, eeeee (please), dadyou (thank you) and chu (shoes). There are a lot of other sounds and noises that come out and probably mean something, but we haven’t quite figured them out yet.
Today was another soccer game for Peyton – they lost 3-1 on Thursday (Peyton was still recovering from swine flu – he looked tired, but so did a lot of other players), so their record was 1 win, 1 tie, 1 loss. They won today, 3 to 0. Peyton scored one of the goals and had quite a few other attempts. He played hard the whole game, since they were short a teamate and not everyone could be subbed out. Nice job, Peyton!

Where did the first half of May go?  My goodness!  Here’s where we’ve been:

Two weeks ago: sick…our symptoms combined, we had swine flu, but individually Peyton had lots of allergies, Lauren had a cold, I had the flu, and James is a pig.  Well, maybe not that last part.

Last week: chaos as we (myself and 2 LC staff) tried to put together the NHS field trip at what felt like the last minute.

This week:  Lauren had her 15 month check up (18 lbs. 5 oz., 30″ tall – she’s still growing!  Even if she is just below 5th percentile for weight, she’s hanging in there!  Her height is at 5oth percentile) along with 3 shots.  Poor girl!  She’s old enough that, though she remained still through all three, she sobbed “owwweeeee!  owwwwweeeeee!” the whole time.  How sad!  Tuesday was Ji Young’s 18th birthday…happy birthday Ji (as Lauren calls her)!  Wednesday Daddy came home at noon so Mommy could go on the NHS field trip – what a blast!  11 hours sans kids, walking through bookstores in Vancouver, BC, looking into other shops, having a fabulous (and free) dinner at Earl’s and enjoying a play put on by Pacific Theatre/Trinity Western.  Only problem: I didn’t get home and into bed until 12:30 am.  It’s a bit past my bedtime, but well worth it.

Oh, and Wednesday-Thursday Peyton may have had a bit of the flu…seems we traded illnesses.  He was well enough to go to his soccer game Thursday, but not well enough to play like himself.  They lost 3-1. 

After the game he said, “I’m glad we didn’t lose.” 

I said, “Umm, you did lose.” 

He replied, “Well, you can’t win all the time.  Sometimes you have to let someone else win.”

What do I say to that? 

Friday: babysitting Will, enjoying the beautiful sunshine in the backyard while Will and Lauren run around, tucking the little ones into bed after they ate more than I thought they could for lunch, having my own lovely half-hour of timed rest on a beach blanket in the sun, and enjoying Papa Murpheys for dinner (ie no cooking!).  We’re about to watch Liam Neeson’s recent movie “Taken.”

One last update: Lauren’s vocabulary expands daily.  Mama, dadda, da’dee (daddy), buh-buh (brother), Beh-wuh (Bella), bah-dee (doggy), Mah-wee (Molly), moo, mow (meow), oo-ooo-ooo (high pitched!  it’s woof-woof!), ahahahaha (the rooster’s crow), ba-a-a-a-a-a (sheep’s baa), Ji (Ji young), deee (three…I always count one…two…THREE!!! when I’m trying to stall her so I can change a diaper or cut fingernails), deh (there/that).  Today she said “aih-bay” (airplane) several times, and we said “Dude!” back and forth about 15 times this morning   She knows all her body parts – patella, tibia, fibula, femur, philangees…okay, maybe we’re not quite there yet, but we’re working on it.  She does know toes, hands, hair, tummy, hair, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth…and I have to go I’m almost out of battery!

Today was Peyton’s very first soccer game ever!!! He was SO excited to play in a REAL game, and I think he outdid himself a bit.
Here are the clips: