"If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" 9-21-09

Today at our Cookin' & Bookin' class our theme was "If you give a mouse a cookie" book.

We read the story several different ways, including the kids each contributing different items to the story, like a cookie, a carton of milk, a straw etc. (You probably need to know the story for this to make sense! But trust me, it was cute, that is, once they understood how to put their items in at the right time!)

We also read "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" & that is where our cookin part came in.

The kids made & ate pancakes! Yummmy!!!

They also made little mouse masks & the book they made was "Animal Colors".

Teacher Julie even gave them homework!!!! haha It's a paper that has all the different things the mouse finds to do in the book, so the kids can retell the story. Very cute, teacher Julie!

Next week: Johnny Appleseed!

9-14-09 1st day of "school" for Maddie

Today was a day that Maddie has waited for since June...Parent Participation classes started again today. She loves to go these classes. Whenever we drove anywhere near the school, she would invariably ask to go to school to play with her friends. She got her wish today. Here is our traditional "first day of school" pose! You can see how excited she was to go!

Here is teacher Julie, one of our favorites!

We added another class this semester: Cookin & Bookin. We will be reading stories & cooking something that goes along with the story. Today the kids made chicken & rice soup. (Very easy recipe-chicken broth, canned cooked chicken & minute rice) I thought it was very yummy! Maddie wasn't too thrilled about it-true to the Phillips children-she is not super good at trying new things! haha She did have to eat a few bites before I would let her go outside & play.
The kids also made their first book today "Things I Like to Eat" by Maddie She got to cut pictures out of her favorite foods & glue them on to the pages. She picked noodles, pizza & strawberries! She was very proud of her book & even shared it in front of the class today.
Next weeks' book, "If you Give A Moose a Muffin", "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "If you Give a Pig a Pancake" and we will be making pancakes.
On Wednesday, we go to our regular parent participation class for 3-4 year olds. We hope to make as many as possible, hopefully all of them! (We are praying that this old Mommy's stamina will hold up, as we just added another paper route to our mornings & now we both are gone until about 5:30-6:30 each morning. Nap times have become a currant event for this mommy again!)

The beach! 9-4-09

A beautiful evening in Morro Bay. Matt & his buddy Edward, were surfing, so Maddie & Karen enjoyed playing at the beach too. Maddie chased the seagulls & knocked over my castles!

She also got to spend some time with "the boys" as she calls them.

The tired surfers...

heading home! What fun we had! Thank you God for a beautiful place that you have allowed us to live!

Half, last & first!

8-24-09
Matt's 15 1/2 birthday! Half a cake & a driving permit!

8-26-09
Traditional last day of summer outing! Each year, since Lindsay started kindergarten, the last day of summer brought about a fun day. When the kids were little, going to the beach for a picnic was enough excitement. Then as they got bigger, they wanted to do more. For at least the last several years, the kids, along with a friend each, & myself would go to Santa Maria to Weinerschnitzel, Boomers & then the mall for cookies. This year was a little different: Lindsay had already started college & Maddie went to YeYe & Nai-Nai Ream's house. Matt's buddy, Edward, had had his wisdom teeth taken out 2 days prior, so he could not eat hot dogs. We got to try a new place, Panera Bread. Boy was that delicious! They have wonderful soups and sandwiches. Yummy!
From there, we went to Boomers, where we played 3 rounds of miniature golf, the boys climbed the rock wall & played arcade games & we also took at least 10 rides on the go karts! That was a lot of fun! What a tradition! I wonder if Maddie will enjoy doing this to in the years to come?


8-27-09
1st day of school
Matt is a sophomore at Morro Bay High School

Sweet Treats: half-birthdays & birthdays!

This is Lindsay's 18 1/2 birthday cake. Couldn't get her to pose with it though!

This is Karen's "birthday cake"! It is our own new creation called a "Brookie".

It is a chocolate chip cookie baked inside a brownie. Then to make it a sundae, you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream smothered in Nanaw's home made hot fudge sauce! Yummmmmy chocolaty goodness! It's worth turning another year older for this! haha

Cast Away Day! 8-13-09

Before after

Today was the big day...the cast came off! Woohoo! Matt was so excited for today to get here. He has been waiting for 5 weeks to get the cast off his left arm/wrist. Per Dr. Devine, the wrist is not completely healed yet. He should still restrict his activities...no playing in any basketball games until Sept 1st. Then the "world is his oyster". If he should fall before it is completely healed, it will break & it will be a worse break. He is to just do strengthening exercises now. He is stiff now from being casted for 5 weeks. Here are a few pictures from getting his cast taken off today.

8-11-09 Trip to Fresno

The kids & I took a day trip to Fresno & back. It is only about a 3 hour drive each way & we were blest not to have too much traffic or road construction delays! Maddie was a great little traveler for us. The car did great too. The air conditioning is amazing! I think at one point we saw that it was 108 degrees.

We had lunch at Wienerschnitzel, the kids choice! :) It was yummy, of course!

Then we went over to see my grandma, Nanaw. She is 94. She lives in the California Armenian Home in the skilled nursing side. This "home" is so beautifully landscaped. Picnic areas, lots of huge trees, grassy area, flowers & fountains. Really beautiful.

Nanaw did not know that we were coming, so we totally surprised her when we walked in. She was out in the hallway, in her wheelchair, looking quite pretty. She had just had her hair done & she looked very nice. I was quite impressed that she recognized me. Sometimes she has a hard time remembering who each of us are & our names. She was in a wonderful mood & seemed to be pain free. (My folks had been there the day before & had gone with her for a 2nd opinion regarding the ulcerations on her leg. The doctor wants to amputate her leg, because there in no circulation getting to her foot. If they don't operate, her foot will become gangrenous & it will eventually kill her with the infection. She has been in an incredible amount of pain & gets morphine twice a day. When my folks were there, she was in a terrible amount of pain. Was very tough on my folks, especially my mom. So we really didn't know what to expect when we got there to see her. I was really worried about how the kids would be, if when we got there, she was crying in pain. But thank you God, she was doing great!) She has been wanting to die for many years. She is ready to meet Jesus face to face. So for her, there is no decision. She made it a long time ago. She is ready to meet Jesus. So they are just going to try to keep her as comfortable as possible.

It was really good to see her. It was a short visit, but quite possibly, the last one. We don't know how much longer she will be with us. I am really glad we went & the kids went also. Here are a few pictures of our day with Nanaw! She fell in love with Maddie, what a surprise!

After our visit, before we got in the car for the long ride home, we played in the fountain. It was only 108 degrees, so it wasn't too bad & the water felt oh so good to splash on each other. After that we went to pick up sandwiches from one of my favorite places, Full O Bull. They have the best cheese steak sandwiches! yummy. Then it was the 3 hour drive home. I was so ready to go to bed when we got home! Lindsay & Maddie slept for about the last 30 mins or so, so bedtime was sooooo late for Maddie! She just wasn't tired after her nap in the car.