Almost a Kindergartener!

So, I peeked over the banister the other day and I saw Sammie busy at her "desk" working on a skill workbook. She is starting Kindergarten on Sept. 8. This day seemed so far away back in 2004 when she was born. I was teaching Kindergarten then and I never realized how quickly it would be here. She is ready. She has been asking me for months, "When is it time for me to go to Kindergarten?" " When will I learn to read?" In just 13 days, she will start Kindergarten and so will I. I am glad to be back in Kindergarten after 4 years of teaching 2nd grade. It is going to be good. ( At least that's what I tell myself so I don't feel sad!) LOL!

We have been having fun as summer winds down. We have been to a few birthday parties.
This is Julia's tea party. Her aunt is "Mrs. Crumpet" and brought all the dresses and makeup for
the girls to wear. Sammie looked a bit "Jackie O" in her attire and loved being elegantly dressed.





After the girls all had their makeup done and then had a fashion show. Sammie's dress was a "Versace original with genuine artificial diamonds adorning the bow." She was on her way to Air Force One to have dinner with the President after Julia's tea party. ( According to Mrs. Crumpet who announced this during the fashion show)

Julia was a very excited birthday girl!

Sammie and her favorite pal, Joey.

We went to Disneyland twice this past week. She rode the canoes for the first time.

Then on Friday, we went to Disneyland again. I took my nephew with us and then Brad and Ruth met up with us later on. We had a good time. Mickey and Minnie were out together ( which is rare) so I was glad to get this pic of Sammie and Dave with both of them.

When I was a kid, I loved carousels and while waiting in line, I would watch for the prettiest horse and that was the one that I would try to get when it was my turn. Well, Sammie does the exact same thing. This is the prettiest horse on the entire carousel!!

Here's the newest Disney princess, Naomi. She is a mix between Cinderella and Jasmine! Yes, she just sits there and tolerates it as Sammie dresses her up. Note the "Minnie Mouse/Rockstar" photo as well. Such a sweet, simple-minded dog!!

Oh, and speaking of Disney, we saw this new movie. Sammie loved it. She referred to it as "the girl in the green bucket". I thought it was very weird! Did anyone else see it? What did you think?

Oh yes, we have spent some time here as well. The favorite ride is the "Ken Chuckie Derby." Our favorite game is Deal or No Deal. I am seriously addicted to that game. I won the 80 tickets once. It is so much fun!

Today we went here. It was a great afternoon. I am sad summer is almost over. Waaaaaah.

Just trying to enjoy these last few days before the craziness starts!

Lucky

I just got back from visiting my parents in Las Vegas. We had a lot of fun. I was down to my last $20 in gambling money and was feeling sad that I couldn't play any more after that money was gone. I was playing nickel poker next to my mom. She switched to dimes and so did I just for fun. ( I usually play quarters but was trying to be conservative.) I was asking how much a royal flush pays on that machine and was jabbering about how I had only had 1 royal flush in my whole life and yada yada... I got dealt the king and queen of hearts and held them and I pushed the button not expecting it and the other 3 cards jumped in there and VIOLA, a royal flush. I won $400. I was so happy. The lady next to me said, " I just heard you talking about how you've only had 1 royal in your whole life and now you've got 2... Congrats!" I was very excited. I really needed that since I don't get paid now until the END of September!!!

So, now the luck continues. I went to Kohl's to get some clothes for Sammie for school. I found a TON of adorable horsey clothes and they were having a sale so that was great! When I went to check out, the saleslady handed me a scratcher card to save an addtional 15%, 20% or 30% off my total purchase. Well, the clothes totalled $240 and I scratched a 15% card. I made a joke to the lady that the cards were probably all 15% right?? She handed me another card and said, try another one. I scratched it and it was a 30% off so now I saved $75.00 off my puchase! Yahoo! That was so nice of her. I got like 18 items for Sammie and now it cost me $165 instead of $240. Awesome! Thanks Kohl's. ( and nice lady) Here's some of the cute finds..

I just love this top. It has tiny little flowers and apples put together to make a horse. It totally reminds me of doodlebug embellishments ( if you are a scrapper you know what I"m talkin' about) Anyway.. I am totally going to make a scrapbook page replicating this horse!! Sammie LOVES her new clothes and can't wait to wear them.

She sure enjoys dressing up and looking cool. Here are her new "bling" sunglasses and a new "Las Vegas Rapper" look.

We went back to the Lied Children's museum. It is such a wonderful museum for kids. (and adults) We had a lot of fun visiting the different exhibits. They had a giant "operation" game this time to teach about bones and organs in the body. Sammie got chosen to participate in the chemistry show. She helped the scientist mix chemicals. Then we went to the grocery store exhibit and she played "cashier". It is adorable. There are fake foods, fruits, meats, veggies, cans, boxes, etc. and you shop and then check out. There is a real cash regsiter that makes noises and the drawer opens and fake money is inside. Fun!

Our Tuesday nights are pretty busy now. Sammie has soccer practice, then a horse lesson and then we usually head to 31 flavors for dollar scoop night. She still loves "Wild and Reckless" which is that crazy green, blue and purple ice cream on the bottom. She complimented it with rainbow sherbet which made for a very colorful cone! I loved how it looked and of course, have ice cream scrapbook paper!! Hmmmmm..

Loved this pic of Sammie and Joey. He is such a good horse. She has been taking lessons with Joey for a year now.. She is really learning some good riding skills and loves it so much. Victoria her trainer just got back from Sweden and brought her some horse stickers so she was really happy!

Check out the scrap it foward blog for a fun "blog candy" prize. There are some cool goodies from Summer CHA just waiting for a good home!

Vacation Fun

We just got back from a trip to San Diego. We had a nice time. We went to Sea World and Lego Land.

Sammie's favorite "Sea Animal"... The Anhueser Busch Clydesdales at Sea World.. That's what you go to Sea World for right?? Shamu who????

This trip was a lot of fun for Sammie because she was finally tall enough to ride the "big rides". She was only 40" tall last summer and now she is just over 42". We rode Atlantis at Sea World several times.

She had fun at Lego Land too. She rode the roller coaster and other "big kid" rides.

This is still her favorite ride though!

We volunteered through Pony Club to help in the Maternity Barn. We worked a 4.5 hour shift in the barn helping the horses and talking to people about the horses. Brad even cleaned the stalls.

Sammie and I were in the stall with the Miniature horses. Mama is "Lady" and baby is named "Princess". They were so cute until Mama got protective and kicked Sammie and then baby walked up to Sammie to nuzzle her and then bit her on the tummy! OUCH!
Brad even got a love bite from the baby horse he was taking care of. Volunteering is hard work and semi-dangerous!!


In other news, Sammie did awesome this year in her swim lessons. She learned to hold her breath under water, swim with her face down, float, and she jumped off the high dive again this year!! I was so proud of her!

At our most recent pony club meeting, Sammie learned to tie up Patches the pony, put on her halter, and lead her all by herself.

We did make it to the circus this year again. We have gone for the past few years. They have changed it and then changed it back. It was pretty good this year. ( a few years ago they made it very "show-y" instead of the traditional circus) I still can't believe how over priced it is! The concessions are more expensive than any thing else I have attended. $12.00 for cotton candy?? Unreal!!

It was fun to watch all the different acts perform.

I have been enjoying summer vacation and am sad that it is now August. Once August hits, the days go faster and faster and then reality sets in that it is time to start thinking about the upcoming school year!! I am not ready to have the "school brain" yet let alone the school schedule!!! I LOVE summer!