No school today!

First of all. Let's just get THIS cuteness out of the way.

(If you click on the picture to see the larger version, you can see her two little teeth which makes her just that much more adorable!)

Ok. Now I can continue.

Before I get to today, I just have to give a quick update about Sammy. After three emails, two letters and one parent/teacher/principal meeting, Sammy has finally been moved to a new class with a new teacher. YAY! He started with her this Monday. She is much more enthusiastic and warm and friendly, and Sammy has adjusted well. I am so excited to not have to fight with him every morning to get up, get dressed, get in the car, and go to school (each one of those was an individual struggle). So glad that he is finally happy with school and his teacher. Admittedly, it should have been done the first week of school, not the seventh, but I'll take what I can get at this point.

Yesterday, they had a field trip to Trader Joe's. Hannah, Helene and I chaperoned.

It was cute to see Hannah jump right in the line with all Sammy's classmates like she belonged there. And I love how she raises her hand to answer a question. What a big girl.

There are no more pictures as it got a little hectic with Helene getting grouchy about having to sit in the stroller that wasn't moving and Hannah (and Sammy) was getting a little bored. It was supposed to end at 10:45 which would have been just enough time to get Hannah to school at 11:15, but by 10:50 they were barely halfway through the tour and we had to leave. It was still fun to go, I just wish we could have stayed the entire time.

Today was a "Pupil Free Day" and while I'm not sure exactly what it entails for teachers--it means no school for the kids. YAY!

It was a lazy start in the morning. I've had a sore throat/cough/cold for over a week that I just can't get rid of, so after the kids got up and I got them settled with breakfast, I went back to bed.

While that sounds nice and relaxing, it really just entailed me lying in bed, just about to fall asleep when Hannah would come upstairs to ask to me something or tattle-tale on her brother. This went on every 15-20 minutes for the next 90 minutes, until I finally gave up on the idea of sleeping and got up.

While I checked email and Facebook, the kids kept harassing me about what we were going to do today. I decided a shower would be a good start, so I took one and was once again interrupted--this time by Sammy who needed to tattle-tale on his sister. I got dressed and ready and picked out the kids' clothes for the day. And then spent the next 60 minutes nagging them 16 times to GET DRESSED and wondering why I have to nag them to get dressed when THEY'RE the ones who want to go somewhere! So aggravating.

Then Samuel emailed me to see if we wanted to meet him for lunch. YES! It was just what we needed to get motivated and out the door. We met him and ended up eating in the car because the drive-thru was super slow and he only had 30 mins for lunch. The kids were still happy to see him and then off we went to the park.

I decided that I was tired of the usual parks we always go to and wanted to try a new one. We eneded up in La Canada at the park I always see every time I drive down Foothill Blvd. and think "someday I am going to take the kids there to play." Well, today was that day.

We found parking right in front and went in. There were just a handful of kids and lots to do.

We started on the swings

Hannah discovered the periscope

And Sammy took his cars on the bridge

and down the tunnel slide

They LOVED the tire swing

And they played tag and just ran around
on the grass for a long time

It was pretty windy so some people were flying kites. I never think about buying kites until we are at the park watching other people fly them and I remind myself to buy some for next time. And never do.

I decided to get a picture of all three

Then Hannah wanted to play photographer

and so did Sammy

This was the funniest part of the day. There were a bunch of high school kids who showed up about 30 minutes after we arrived. They came and went, but a few hung out on the grass. We had headed back over to the playground area anyway, so they weren't a bother. After a while, Hannah notices a group of them sitting on the grass and in true Hannah form, goes over to hang out with them. I let her go for a bit thinking they would just ignore her or maybe move, but they actually chatted with her and let her hang out with them. I quickly headed over to make sure that she wasn't annoying them. The girls smiled and told me how adorable she was and that they loved chatting with her. Well, she IS pretty chatty and says some funny things, so I let her stay. That is one of my favorite things about Hannah, she doesn't care what anyone thinks and doesn't let anyone intimidate her--she does exactly what she wants!

After Hannah was there for about 20 minutes, Sammy headed over to see what was so interesting.

By this time it was after 3 and I was ready to go. I had promised to take them to McDonald's for their day off of school. They are both obsessed with the Monopoly game that McDonald's is doing right now and love to collect the game pieces to play online. And I certainly don't mind hanging out with the free Diet Coke refills while the kids play.

More cuteness?
Seriously. I can't stand it.
I just want to kiss her all day long!