Watch Out NASA, Here Comes Kaylee!

A few months ago Kaylee suddenly became extremely interested in our solar system and astronauts. I decided to feed her interest so we went to the library to check out books on the subject. She was fascinated by everything that had to do with outer space and space travel. She memorized everything in the books we checked out and then we went back for more. She can recite an amazing number of facts about each planet and she completely understands what she's talking about.

From her studies she's decided a few things. When she goes to college she's going to major in Astronomy. After that she's going to get a job at NASA and become an astronaut. She wants to be a Mission Specialist because they are the ones that get to leave the shuttle and work in space. She is also going to be the first person to walk on Mars. Oh yeah, and she wants a space themed party for her "fifth year old" birthday. She is a kid after all. 

The other day she was wearing her old candy corn costume and a safari hat. When I asked her about it she replied, "Mom, I'm not a candy corn. I'm dressed like the planet Jupiter."

She built a solar system that is now hanging in her room and she's going to be an astronaut for Halloween. So yeah, this kid is going places.

Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend we went to a pumpkin festival at a Christmas tree farm in Elgin, Texas. It was pretty fun! There were farm animals, a hayride, games, a hay maze, and of course pumpkins. 

Big Boy Bed

It's official. Landon is a big kid now. A couple of days ago I asked Landon if he wanted to take his nap in the twin sized bed that's in his room. Of course he did and now he wants nothing to do with his crib.

At the time, I figured it would be a trial to see how things went in a big bed. Well, I was sick all last week and devised this with my sick brain. It really didn't register that he might not want to go back to the crib ever again.

I'm a little sad because my baby really isn't a baby anymore. And, poor Chris didn't even get a say in the matter. So note to self . . . don't make decisions when you're sick! Sob! 

The Pillow Pool

Today my kids informed me that we live right next to Pillow Beach, and they were headed off to play in The Pillow Pool.

Auntie Velma

Last Sunday Chris' Auntie Velma was in town (she's from Ventura, CA.) and came for an overnight stay. Ainsley didn't have school Monday so she was able to enjoy all of Auntie Velma's short visit. We are always so excited when we have family visiting. It sure doesn't happen as much as we would like.

The kiddos were especially excited and drew pictures for her as they awaited Auntie Velma's arrival. Apparently "Auntie Velma" was too long of a name for them to repeat as frequently as they felt was needed so they shortened it to "Grandma." It was pretty funny. At first they would catch themselves but by the end of Sunday "Auntie Velma" was dropped and "Grandma" it was. Thankfully Auntie Velma is indeed a Grandma so she didn't mind.

On Monday we met Chris at work and Auntie Velma took us out for a yummy pizza lunch. She stayed with us until Monday afternoon before heading back to San Antonio to catch her flight home. Thanks for coming to visit us Auntie Velma! 

UNO Attack!

Even though Landon's age prevents him from fully understanding the game UNO Attack!, we always include him when we play and even give him his own set of cards. He's learned some of his colors and numbers from playing. He can even show you a skip, reverse, and wild card. Pushing the button and watching cards fly has always been his most favorite part of the game - until last night.

While we were playing last night, it suddenly clicked that getting extra cards was not a good thing, and that, in fact, you really want to get rid of your cards. Once this happened Landon treated the button like the plague. He wanted nothing to do with it. He played his cards with the wonderful strategy of a two year old but when it came time for him to give the button a push, well in this case, a picture speaks a thousand words.

Halloween Crafting and Cookie Baking

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ainsley was in charge of our Family Home Evening treat last night. We decided this a little late in the day so there wasn't a lot of time for me to help her with preparing anything since I needed to make dinner. In typical Ainsley fashion she decided to take matters into her own hands. She figured that if I couldn't help her, she was going to make chocolate chip cookies by herself. At first the idea didn't sound that great to me but then I thought, why not?

We chose a recipe together, she read the recipe, collected ingredients, and with minimal explanation from me, got to work. We talked about different measurements and I asked her to verify the cups and teaspoons she thought she needed to use during the measuring of ingredients. She did great! I was able to cook dinner while she baked cookies and the cookies turned out really good.

She also decided she was going to try her hand at using the oven. This didn't go quite as well. I was really nervous about her getting too close to the oven so when it was time to take the cookies out, I figured we should do it together. I wore one oven mitt, she wore the other, and we pulled out the cookies. Unfortunately she automatically grabbed the cookie sheet with both hands and got a pretty nasty burn. Fortunately it was just one finger, and the burn hasn't hindered her desire to bake. When she woke up this morning and saw that her cookies were almost gone, her response was, "I might just have to make more when I get home from school today."