Mexicans are special people

Last Monday, Jonathan presented his project to the class at school. The project was to take a clothespin (the story they read was Molly's Pilgrim) and dress it up according to their heritage. It was a project I could help out with, so I was hoping he'd pick his Mexican side to 'represent', lol. I asked him if he wanted to take a German or Mexican doll. I have to say I breathed a sigh of relief when he said he wanted to do a Mexican clothespin since I would have had no idea how to dress up a German doll. I'm not even sure Neil would have known what to do exactly. Fortunately, we were able to find lots of brightly colored doodads to make his clothespin festive, right down to the sombrero with the sequins. He ended up with a 100, or 20/20 in all five categories, presentation, doll, written sentences, punctuation and overall project.

In a conversation with his Uncle Chris, Jonathan mentioned that Mexicans are special people, so I decided to use it as the title. :)

Enjoy!!

{the finished product - a poncho, sombrero with sequins and some festive lights}

He's ONE!!!

Today is Drew's one year birthday! The one year stats: 17lbs 1 ounce or <5%> 28 3/4 inches tall or 10-25% and 44.3cm head circumference or 5% It took three tries, but we finally got some pics of Drew that we liked, so in addition to the blog header photo, here are a couple runners up. I'll be posting birthday photos soon. And for those who have been concerned (*cough* Alice *cough cough*) about Drew's need for a haircut, you'll be happy to know that it was our decision to let him keep the gorgeous locks of hair he was born with until his first birthday just as it was my goal to nurse him until he was a year too. I *did* purchase a pair of scissors from Sally's yesterday and he will be getting those gorgeous locks trimmed down to 'acceptable manly' status. Yes, you can all breathe a sigh of relief now.

Do you really need to ask whether she's able to wear this makeup outside the house?!

A couple of weeks ago, Ashley's 9th period dance class put on a show, along with other middle schools as well as a few area high schools. One of the requirements was to wear makeup, 'done up' a certain way. After doing a trial run, we were ready to put on her makeup for the event. I have to say, their dance was very tasteful and very cool. Once the dvd makes its way home, I'll post with a clip of their dance. Ashley's group wore the orange sashes, that her instructor kept. This is why she's only wearing black in the photos. And no, she will never see any of that makeup again. They were required to wear makeup as thick and heavy as if she were in theater. Bright (true) red lipstick and dark pink blush. I think the only thing she may inherit is the ability to wear a little of the mascara. Maybe.

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I apologize the following photos aren't great. I took my small camera only to discover the batteries were dead. I had to use my iPhone camera and let's be honest, there's a reason it's not known as *the* camera phone to have.

{Ashley's group is in the middle - can you spot her? ;-) }

Paige's first visit to the dentist!

{Paige looked so tiny in that chair. The fact that she was curled up in the fetal position the whole time didn't help!}

On Tuesday, Paige had her very first dentist exam. I remember not too long ago when it wasn't uncommon for kids to be petrified of the dentist. I picked her up from preschool and reminded her and she immediately told me not to forget my camera because she *had* to have her pictures taken. She is my well-trained child. I had forgotten about bringing my camera, so she took charge of the situation. We have been going to Avery Ranch Dental for three years now, or when Paige was about eight or nine months old. She didn't have any reason to be scared because she's always tagged along for Ashley and Jonathan's visits. The ladies there are awesome. I have never been so impressed by professionalism as I have by theirs. It's an all-female staff, so each time I bring the kids in, they oooh and ahhh over them.

{Paige settles in for her cleaning.}

{Say 'ahhhh'!}

{Paige watches some cartoons}


{Paige, with the technician}

{Paige with Dr. De La Cruz}

Paige did a great job! She had perfect teeth, perfect spacing and even did the panoramic x-ray, something that we save for the second visit when they're not as scared. Yes, she did *just* that good!

Halloween pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating!

This is another pic heavy post. Mostly because I've been lazy this week in getting my blogging done in a timely manner. And for no good reason. Boy, if I were paid for this I'd have gotten fired, lol.

{Paige doesn't know what to make of those pumpkin 'guts'}

{Neither does Jonathan. It didn't smell very good, either!}

{Kisses always make it better! Whatever *it* is...}



{Ashley carves her first pumpkin by herself - we won't share how that pumpkin turned out, will we, Ashley?}

{We tried something different this year, sticking potato head pieces in the pumpkin.}

{Paige gives up and decides to put on her 'clippy clomps' and heads out to the tree}

***Trick or Treating***


{Paige, our off-duty princess in her flip flops}






{Jonathan and his buddy, Jaxon}

{Paige explains who she is}

{Poor Drew, he was so tired. I didn't get any real Halloween pics of him in his 'costume'}



***The ALIEN house***

the boys begged to go to the alien house, so we told them after we were done trick or treating we'd stop there. well, they both got more than they bargained for! they were scared outta their pants and Jaxon ended up going home instead of staying the night because he was so frightened. maybe next year they'll get up enough courage to actually get the candy!!