Jacqui's Weekend with Grandma Quack Quack

I have been in Charleston, SC all week for a nursing conference. It was great and very educational. I will post pictures from it a little later in the week. Jacqui stayed home with Uncle Levi and my friend Kris all week while I was gone. She, of course, did not miss me at all. She did give me some words of advice when I flew out to 'Scare O'Lina'. She told me to be careful, and 'if you get stabbed, just make sure you take a band-aid'. No idea where she got that one from!

Grandma Quack Quack came up on Friday to spend time with Jacqui and Levi, before he heads off to Phoenix. Jacqui lost both her top teeth last week, so all her pics are toothless:).
Jacqui and Grandma Quack Quack had an absolute blast together. Grandma Quack Quack took JR to Green Bluff and to the pumpkin patch and Jacqui was so excited about it. She rode the horses and picked out some great pumpkins. Jacqui drew the face on the pumpkin and Grandma Quack Quack carved it out for her. We all enjoyed spending time together. Jacqui practiced some of her 'Go Fish' skills. She very much adores Grandma Quack Quack and cannot get enough of all that attention! What a great weekend and great fall memories as the weather starts turning cold!

Grandad #1's Birthday Weekend

Glenn's birthday was on Saturday, he is now a senior citizen! Jacqui and I traveled down to spend the weekend with him and took him out to dinner for his b'day. We went to Red Lobster so Jacqui could see the lobsters in the tank, and wouldn't you know it, there were none in there that day! Dinner was great and Jacqui was SO excited to get to spend time with her Grandad on his special day. We went shopping and they painted together for hours. Grandad shared his special day with Jacqui and let her decide how we would end his special day... so they did her favorite and built a fire in his outside pit and roasted marshmallows, making s'mores! Sunday Levi drove down to hang out too, and we all went to breakfast. It was a pretty fun weekend. We went and fed the huge koi at Beaver Bark (another Jacqui favorite). Jacqui and I went and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with Grandad at the theatre, it was a pretty fun movie!
We stayed very busy and really enjoyed spending time with Grandad #1 on his special day, and through the whole weekend. Jacqui woke up this morning and her 2nd top tooth had fallen out while she was sleeping with Grandad... She is pretty sure he yanked it out while she was sleeping :)! We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with 'the B'. Happy Birthday Dad, We love you!

Happy Birthday "B"!

Well the "B" is now a senior citizen... 55 and counting! Kayla, Jacqui, and Levi came down to Burbank for the weekend to visit and celebrate his birthday with him. We have been enjoying the senior discount when we go out ;) Jacqui was so excited to be here with him and has been telling him Happy Birthday the whole trip. I will try to post some pics of the weekend later. Everyone remember to shoot him an email or give him and call and wish him a Happy Senior's Birthday (maybe send him a walker or some depends!) As you can tell Levi and I have been having to much fun with this! Miss and love you all!

Beach Boys Concert

The Beach Boys were here in Spokane for the fair so Levi, Jacqui and I were able to go. It was a blast and they played all their great songs ~ oldies but goodies~! Jacqui was jazzed because they gave out free beach balls... she is sleeping with hers now. I was explaining to Jacqui that the Beach Boys were a band that I really like when I was around her age. Her response, "Well mom, you know what else they are called? Lifeguards!" It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about, but then I realized what she meant and was thrilled how brilliant she is! What a fun and memorable evening.
The Beach Boys!Jacqui's Picture of Levi

Jacqui-isms

While driving down the highway the other day, we passed a semi full of cows. Jacqui's comment "Mom, what is that stench?!" I started giggling, thinking that was a fun new word compared to her normal question about 'smells'. She figured it out on her own however and noted, "Oh it's just the farm cows...".

Jacqui has taken to yelling out "HOCA-MONTES!" every time we pass a tree that has droopy vines. For the longest time I had no idea what she was talking about, even though I ask her every time what she is talking about. This week she finally helped me understand... Droopy trees look like weeping willow trees. On the Pocahontas (hoca-montes for those of you following the story) movie, 'Grandmother Willow' is a tree of great wisdom that Pocahontas frequently talks with. Jacqui has connected the two and now 'droopy' trees are to 'Hoca-montes', as cows and chickens are to a farm.

Jacqui has decided she loves to wear her flip flops now that they stay on her feet. I won't let her wear them to school, and this is always a battle in the mornings. I finally told her that flip flops are not appropriate for school because she could get slivers from playing outside, get her feet stepped on, lose a shoe... I was wearing my flip flops the other day out of the house and her comment "Mom you need to go and change your shoes... You are not appropriate like that!"

STORIES FROM SCHOOL

Jacqui has learned and remembered the name of one child in her kindergarten class. Apparently, he missed the first couple of days of school but now he is back. She calls him 'Rice', but his actual name is 'Bryce'. I have tried to explain this to her numerous times, but she will not have it. So everyday on the way home from school now we talk about 'Rice' and how he 'finally showed up to class'.

Her new favorite book is 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' which our friend Cori reads with her every school night before bed, and she tells me all about it every day. She was thrilled to learn that her class has the same book. She got put in time-out when the teacher told her it was time to put books away and Jacqui told her "I'm just going to finish my last three pages first". She then was told to go to time-out, which she did AFTER she finished her 3 pages. (Don't know where she gets that stubborn independence from!)

She has learned a new song in kindergarten about '5 Little Gingerbread Men all in a Row". She sings this now constantly; in the shower, in the car, before bed, during breakfast, walking to the mail box... The basics of the song: "5 little gingerbread men in a row. Not gonna eat one. No, No, No! But they look so sweet from head to toe... Munch, Crunch... UH OH! Four little... repeat, all the way down to zero. She has found this to be great fun and picked it up in its entirety in 2 days of listening to the teacher sing it a couple of times during her class.

She is enjoying school and is now hoping that she can start going longer "so I can learn more, cuz just going for a little bit is boring". Her teacher came and talked to me after the kids were released for the day. As teachers do, she put a positive spin on Jacqui's independence, bossy nature, and social interactions. She noted that Jacqui is "very enthusiastic, probably by far in both my classes, but she is great about helping me out and reminding me ALL the time of how things are supposed to be done, she is also making friends with everyone and makes sure they are doing what they are supposed to". Anyway, Jacqui is loving school and embracing learning, time-out doesn't phase her at all and she just takes it all in stride.

Hope you all are enjoying the start of school also, with all the teachers in the fam I know this is a BUSY time of year. Congrats to Christa on her new teaching position and hope all is going well for the rest of you. I also started school last Tuesday at Gonzaga for my Masters program. It is A LOT of work, but will definitely be worth it. Love and miss you all!

First Day of School

Today was Jacqui's first day of school. We (I) were planning to wake up at 8am to get ready for school, but she woke up on her own at 6(!) and asked about every 10 minutes until 0830 "Is it time for me to go to my school yet?" She is going to Lincoln Heights Elementary and her teacher's name is Mrs. Coyote. She is in the AM kindergarten from 9-1130. She was very excited to start school today and did not even blink when I left the classroom, "Bye mom, don't forget to pick me up later".

I went to pick her up and she was the last child to come running to the open arms of parents, as she was much more interested in all the other kids on the playground and didn't think she was quite ready to be with mom yet (such an independent little thing!). So I picked her up and we walked to the car, all the while her telling me the story of her day at about a mile a minute.

Her synopsis of her day went something to the effect of "Oh my gosh mom, they have 3 frogs! They are tree frogs, you know, so they can climb... They are green... We got to feed them crickets today and their little tongues go out all the time... It is SO cool. We have one fish, only 1, not three like the frogs. And I answered all the teachers questions today and I was always right because I am SO smart. Huh Mom? (Yes, dear). We got to play on the slides and the toys, and the slide has 2 bumps on it and it was so fun! And I got to play with the creative big blocks..."

Needless to say, it was a very successful first day and she had a blast! I was able to go and work out for an hour and run an errand which was great. 2 1/2 hours isn't much, but I found it just enough to have a small amount of me time... I think we are both going to like this new transition.

Cousins Weekend

Well I am running a couple of weeks behind, but thought I would post some of our weekend pics with G & G. What a fun weekend, and it sure was great to see everybody!

I think my favorite part of our time is sitting and listening to G & G's stories. It was really great to hear and learn about our new family members too (well not super new, but I learned more about you guys and that is nice!)

'The Girls'

'The Guys'

'The FAM'


Happy 61st Anniversary G & G!