Just realized that my kids are getting so old that I've begun "remember when?" type of stories.
Payton's always had a thing for animals. She used to call ants her friends until she realized they love to bite her, she loves dogs of all sizes and shapes and even farm animals. One time when Payton was 2 or 3, Andy drew a picture of a farm and Payton declared that something was definitely missing. Unable to figure out what it was, she let him know that every animal needed a purse. Of course they did. Everybody needs a purse!
When we'd drive by farm animals, she'd matter-of-factly declare that she needed to take the cow home. Nevermind the fact that we lived in an apartment. Once we did buy a house, she told us how excited she was that now she could have a horse! Too bad our yard was 12x12.
Payton's also flirted with being a vegetarian over the years. Complicating this was two things: she wasn't a big fan of vegetables and the minor detail that she really loved the taste of meat.
Until now.
She's recently acquired the taste for lots of vegetables and is varying the food she eats a lot more. Her conscientiousness is also winning over flavor and she's been meat-free for a couple of months now. I admit that sometimes I find it annoying. We are meat eaters and having her not eat meat is not very convenient many times. However, like everything in her life, she wants to do what she believes is right and is persistent in that effort. I admire that.
In 14 years, I've never been a fan of chore charts or paying for chores but recently, the kids just weren't doing what they should be so I've done what I said I'd never do: create a chore chart and even more, there's money involved.
The kids have the same tasks to complete everyday and at 8:30, I check the list and sign if it's complete. They each get an amount for each day complete and if they complete every day of the week, their weekly amount doubles.
We are just getting started on this system but they are very excited about it. I'm surprised since we've never done it but apparently they were craving something more structured. We'll see how it goes.
Both kids recently have developed new smiles for different reasons.
Payton got her braces off and now has big, perfect teeth. Feels weird to her but she'll get used to it.
Blake, on the other hand, loses teeth constantly. He's lost one per month for the past 5 or 6 months. The last one, he didn't even bother to let us know about. Decided if the tooth fairy was real, she'd figure it out. That kid and his tests.
He's lost another one since this (crazy) pic was taken.
On Thursday evening, Payton was in another school play. She had a silent role as a mime in the last one (which was ironic) and in this one, she had a very large speaking part but still ironic as an ugly stepsister.
This play was a talk show hosted by a female and male host that got together characters from fairy tales and tried to get them to reconcile. Payton's character had to reconcile with Cinderella. Her character had LOTS of attitude which felt a little too real to us. :) She was great. Andy and I can't believe how comfortable she is being on stage. This is the same child who wouldn't take pics as a small child, hated dance recitals, wouldn't speak in class for a few years, etc. Amazing.
(Black on her face is because her character had spent the last several years working in a coal mine.)
I wish I had been so whimsical and confident at her age. Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt, jeans, black lace tutu over jeans, Converse kicks, chopsticks in hair. Fun.
These are my favorites from the link I posted recently.
I'm not a fan of textured backgrounds but this one is pretty cute. Probably because it was one of the first ones taken so he was in a better mood.
I like this one but can't decide if he looks like a midget with a regular-sized torso and small legs?
My mom can't believe I'm going to order this picture. Not only do I like it, it might be my favorite. I don't really like studio pictures in general but this actually kind of captures him (I'm not trying to be funny even though it sounds snarky saying that). This is Blake. Full of attitude and cute while doing it. Can you see his eyelashes?
I like how Payton's red sweater pops against the white background and Blake's neutral colored shirt. She's very photogenic I think but my mom reminds me that she wouldn't take photos for the first few years of her life. Photographer actually told me once "I've never seen a child like this!" Yeah, I've heard that a lot in the past 14 years for different reasons about both kids.
The picture of Blake with the gold coins was just 1 of the many pics taken by Misty. Payton joined Blake in a few of them as well. Plenty to choose from!
Slideshow (Password is my last name with the first letter capitalized)
Payton was in a play tonight called "Last Stop Till Christmas" that she's been rehearsing for the last several weeks. I had read the script and knew it would be a cute play. They did a great job. Ironically, chatty Payton played a mime. :)
One of the weird/quirky/random/adorable things that Andy likes is those trashy court shows on TV like Judge Cristina or People's Court or whatever. Can't figure out why he likes them but he does. Tonight in our living room, the kids decided to have their own court case that was about as absurd as those TV shows but that's what we do best here. It was a divorce case in which each child argued why they should be granted a divorce from the other. My children are sweet.
So they both had their arguments and called their witnesses and when Payton was questioning Blake she said "do you or do you not scream for some weird reason while I am talking?" to which Blake said "no, I don't have a reason."
She followed up with "do you or do you not throw out random things and interrupt me while I'm talking" to which Blake said "Poop. I'm just demonstrating." Not sure he understood that he wasn't supposed to be helping her, he was supposed to be against her.
The judge (Andy) decided to grant them the divorce so they are officially each only children which we already knew anyway. Glad we got that solved.
On Thursday night at midnight, I took Payton and 2 friends to see the much-anticipated Twilight movie that they've been counting down to all year. I love midnight showings because they bring out the most enthusiastic fans that will actually talk to the movie and clap loudly when it begins and ends. I've had a few people say I was crazy for going out at that time and encountering the teens but I was so excited for Payton and her friends to see it that it was totally worth it. Despite getting home at 2:45 and their buses coming before 7, they all got up the next morning and made it to school just fine. The only one that didn't? That would be me.
- Payton's high school selection. Our school district allows you to request the school you want to attend and then you find out where you're assigned based on availability. Our district is building a second high school that will be in use next school year so Payton had the choice of two schools. One is a 4A school (with about 400 students) and one is a 6A (with about 1500 students). She chose the smaller school and got it. The shrieks and screams in our house when she got the letter can't be properly conveyed via text. She made the decision purely on what she thought was best for her. Many of her friends preferred the other school and will be attending there next year. Now she's working on choosing her schedule. She was tested on her skills and her interests and is supposed to use that to help determine her courses. Seems like a lot for a 13 year old to be thinking about but this is where we are. In other news...when did we get old enough to have a high school aged child?
- I've been sick. Starting last Saturday, I wasn't feeling great. I worked half days most of the week and went to the doctor twice. Finally ended up with a diagnosis of tonsilitis with a prescription for antibiotics and steroids. Feeling so much better...finally!
- Twilight movie. If you haven't heard, this is the biggest thing since the Harry Potter series. Just booked our tickets for the midnight showing which is in 13 days. All but 1 theater was sold out. I can't wait to see the story that Payton's been obsessed with all year.
We had lots of stuff planned for Halloween and when I woke up after only getting 4 hours of sleep and I wasn't feeling great, I knew I just had to get through the day.
Not only did we get through it but we had tons of fun.
I was the first person in our house to get in costume. I dressed up as my (male) coworker who is kind of a skater dude. You can't see the skater shoes or fingerboards in this pic but they helped complete the look.
I won the costume contest for the girls. The girl in second place was very close so she and I will be going to lunch together this next week with the restaurant gift card that I won.
In the afternoon, Andy went to Blake's school for his Halloween party.
Side note: before Halloween, the kids asked Blake what he was going to be and when he said "Uncle Sam" they replied "you're dressing up as your uncle?!"
Andy brought Blake to my work for Trick or Treat Street where the kids go through a maze and collect candy and have a lot of fun. Blake went through the maze 5 times I think.
Pic of us together when Blake first started...
Going through the maze...
The outside of the tunnel part of the maze...
Snacks and drinks in our employee kitchen area plus the infamous foosball table. Uncle Nick and Uncle Mark, we might have another foosball lover in the family!
After leaving my work, it was time for me to head home and work with Payton on getting the house ready for her party.
Payton and Tabbi decorating the downstairs...
While the kids were hanging in the front yard, I took this video to show what was going on.
After waiting for people to arrive and having some snacks, we headed out on a scavenger hunt. Andy had one group and I had another. The list of items to get included taking photos with specific costumes, getting certain kinds of candy and collecting some items.
Scavenger hunt photos... Pic with a witch they found...
Pic with "animals"...
The other team's witch...
Found a superhero...
We got back and the teams kept the cameras and took random party pics...
We had a "best costume" award and told the kids that nobody could vote for themselves or for Payton. Payton still got a couple of votes...way to not listen, kids! The girl who won was dressed in a really cute pirate costume. Sadly, I can't find one picture of her.
We setup a section of our living room like a "photo booth" where the camera was attached to a TV and put on a timer. Then the kids could see themselves while taking pics. Here's a slideshow of their photo booth pics.
We learned a lot in hindsight but thought it went ok overall. Next time we'd probably have the scavenger hunt in smaller teams (we each had 10-11 kids), we would have ended things a bit earlier and we would have had one more activity planned. Positive things were the punch (my mom's recipe...always a HUGE hit), the brownies, the photo booth area and the scavenger hunt concept (though we would tweak it a bit). Overall, we thought it went pretty well. Payton says next year will be a smaller group and it will include haunted house hopping, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters and staying up late watching scary movies. Sounds fun!
Payton's always had a thing for animals. She used to call ants her friends until she realized they love to bite her, she loves dogs of all sizes and shapes and even farm animals. One time when Payton was 2 or 3, Andy drew a picture of a farm and Payton declared that something was definitely missing. Unable to figure out what it was, she let him know that every animal needed a purse. Of course they did. Everybody needs a purse!
