Detroit - First Day of Fifth Grade

I can't believe my baby girl started 5th grade today! I don't think I'm ready for this...and for what comes after 5th grade...Middle School! Yikes! I am so proud of this girl; she is such a sweetheart and really enjoys school. Her big goal for this year? To keep her desk clean! We'll see how that goes...she is Jared's daughter after all. (hee hee)

Detroit walks to school every day with her friend Nathaniel. He lives across the street. We are so spoiled living 2 blocks away from the school and I love that she has a good buddy to walk with. Makes mornings easy on me!

Since I got my own shadow in the picture, I had the kids turn for the next one. Apparently they were staring directly into the sun since Detroit looks like she is ready to cry! Oh well, she really was happy!

Happy Birthday Detroit!

Detroit's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, which also happened to be her last basketball game of the season. We got to cheer Detroit on, and she played really well! It is amazing how much she has improved!

To celebrate her birthday we let Detroit choose where she wanted to go eat after the game, and she chose...RED LOBSTER! She was so excited, but she had a hard time choosing between the Clam Chowder and the Snow Crab Legs. (Yes, pretty good taste for a 10 year old, huh?)

She chose the Snow Crab Legs:

Joaquin was obsessed with the lobsters in the tank and spent most of the evening hovering over the tank looking in. Our server graciously offered to get one out for the kids to look out. Detroit found this exceptionally cool. Joaquin also enjoyed this treat, but from afar...

(He was hiding on the bench in the corner, squealing with delight.)

Apparently Red Lobster does not offer a complimentary dessert for birthdays.
Instead, we got a lovely cheddar biscuit...



Joaquin was obsessed with the crab claw...



Detroit's birthday dessert wish? Lemon Meringue Pie!
(Like father, like daughter!)





PRESENTS!




(Yes, she really is her father's daughter, isn't she?!)

Marie Curie

This evening Detroit told me one of the funniest things I think I have ever heard...

A little boy in her class (who is a pain) told her she looked like Michael Jackson...whatever that means. So she told him, "You look like Marie Curie!" As she is telling me the story, I thought she was trying to be hip and call this kid Mariah Carey, so I said, "Did you mean Mariah Carey?" She says, "No, I called him Marie Curie." This proclamation was followed by wild laughter and it was obvious she was extremely pleased with that zinger of a comeback.

Oh my gosh, I think I cried and about peed my pants from laughing so hard. First of all, I am sure this boy doesn't even know who Marie Curie is, and second of all, what fourth grader uses Marie Curie as a comeback anyway! Detroit, that's who!

(I really wish I could have gotten the story on video, because she was SO proud of herself.)

Tuscon

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to travel to Tuscon and see our nephew, Goose, play baseball for the Utah Valley University Wolverines.

It was a lot of fun to get to see him play! The kids even had him sign one of the foul balls that they got. Lol...

Joaquin, Goose and Detroit


Goose


Joaquin was busy playing on the bleachers as we watched and as I turned to see what he was doing, this scene caught my eye. It seemed appropriate since we live in Roswell, and I love the way Joaquin set him up.



Later on, I glanced over and noticed Joaquin had lined up all of his toys on the numbers along the bleacher. It reminded me so much of when Detroit was little and would always line up her plastic Care Bears by color.



Pretty pleased with himself...


Like father like daughter...
A little lull in the game, and they are both busy reading the newspaper. (And apparently Jared is cramming a large handful of popcorn into his mouth!)



Jared and his brother Josh were really excited when we found their Grandma's old house. Jared hadn't seen it since about 1984 and was pretty impressed that Josh was able to find it.

(I am sure the owners wondered why we were posing and taking pictures outside of their house...LOL!)

Worst Valentine's Meal...Ever!

This year, for our annual Valentine's dinner, I decided to try a couple of new recipes.

Bad idea.

I made a glazed salmon that I found in one of my Taste Of Home magazines, and it was seriously one of the nastiest things I have ever tasted. Then, I decided to make a red devil cake (cake mix version), but I wanted to make it using a cool Weight Watchers recipe. Essentially, you mix a can of diet soda with the cake mix and VOILA...a tasty, yet low point, treat. Since I didn't have time to run to the store, the only diet drink I had on hand was Diet Mountain Dew. No problem. The batter tasted quite good so I thought this would be a hit. Nope! Apparently, Diet Mt. Dew and chocolate cake mix do not taste so good once baked. Even the kids wouldn't eat it!

We all just had to laugh. Oh well! Lessons learned!

These pictures were taken BEFORE we tasted our nasty dinner:





At least my jello jigglers and ice cubes worked!

***
Thankfully, our Valentine's Date was a success!

The Friday before Valentine's a local church offered a Parent's Night Out, so for a grand total of $10.00, Jared and I got babysitting services for 4 hours...YAY! We decided to just get some food to-go and rent a movie. Our romantic movie of choice? Zombieland...and yes, it was awesome. I also got a really pretty rose that Detroit helped pick. It was a great night!

Shakira in Diapers

Last night I was grading papers for University of Phoenix and Jared calls me out to come watch the NBA All-Star Halftime Show...he and Joaquin had already started to watch it, but thanks to the gloriousness of DVR, they were able to rewind it. As it was getting ready to start, Joaquin was shouting something about the "ladies" and "diapers." I said, "Are the ladies wearing diapers?" He excitedly confirms that yes indeed the ladies are wearing diapers! I give Jared a funny look and ask if they are wearing something that resembles diapers and he says no. So we laugh at Joaquin's silliness and start watching. About 30 seconds into it, Joaquin starts yelling about ladies and diapers again, and then it hits me...

Apparently, the new "no pants" craze among female musicians looks like a diaper to my 2 1/2 year old. Hilarious!

Hot Chocolate (Mix) is Yummy!

Last Sunday Detroit was too sweet and got Joaquin up and out of bed so mom and dad could sleep in. It was heaven!

Then, we saw what had happened in our absence...



Apparently, Joaquin decided to make himself some hot chocolate and it was "deewishus."

It's Hard to be Loved

One night Detroit and Joaquin were kept happy for a long while chasing the cats and trying to contain them both in this laundry hamper. Then they would cuddle them. Of course the cats would escape and the process would start all over.

I guess for kids sometimes "love" and "torture" mean the same thing...

Detroit Is Famous

Last week Detroit got to go to the local radio station and record a public service announcement for Girl Scout cookie sales. She had so much fun touring the station and recording in the studio. The gentleman who worked with her said we might have a future DJ on our hands! (A Kallunki who likes talking? What?! hee hee)

She sounded so cute, I just had to post her PSA here.

Laundry Baskets & Cupboards

Today I left the front room for just a couple of minutes to put away some laundry, and when I came back Joaquin had climbed into the laundry hamper. Apparently this is a really fun place to hang out since he stayed in there for almost an hour. He was delighted when one of his favorite shows...The Backyardigans...came on and he realized he could watch it while sitting in the hamper.



This is pure joy:




Yesterday Joaquin also discovered that it is great fun to sit in the kitchen cupboard. While I was cooking dinner he climbed in...and stayed for quite a while. My first thought was...can you guess?

A Christmas Story!

He looked so cute sitting in there! Tonight he was upset, so Jared just opened the cupboard door and in he went. Cheered him right up!

I Need a Napkin in my Hand

Joaquin is full of funny tidbits, and I thought I should write some down before I forget...

I guess I say "Oh my gosh!" a lot when he tells me things, so now he is ordering me to say "Oh my gosh!" if I forget. He will often yell at me to say it faster as well.

Last night he was crying in his sleep. Jared went in to see what was wrong and Joaquin said, "I need a napkin in my hand."

We went through a phase were he wanted medicine before bed. We started giving him "water medicine," which is water in a medicine cup. Works like a charm! We also used that strategy when he started demanding juice at bedtime...just fill a cup with water and call it "water juice." Once again, a happy boy.

Joaquin still loves to yell "What the hell?!" at inappropriate times. Thankfully he has the intonation down perfectly. I guess if your two year old is going to say it, he might as well say it right!

He loves to pretend his name is "Jophes." (Jared asked him if his name was Joseph once and Joaquin thought that was hilarious!)

And I am sure there are so many more that I cannot remember at this moment! :)

Pork Chops and Lemon Meringue Pie

HaPpY bIrThDaY
JARED!!!

We had a really nice time celebrating Jared's birthday...and thankfully he's easy to please. His only birthday requests were pork chops and lemon meringue pie!

Yummy!


This is how happy pork chops make Jared:


Celebrating the big 3-4!




PRESENTS!
(Soundgarden CD, New Mexico Past & Present book & an Atlas...what more could a man want?!)