Happy Belated Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!!! Sorry I am only 6 days late!! CJ and I worked all day and the kids were in school, so we didn't do too much. Zach had Algebra homework and then basketball practice at 8PM, so we just exchanged cards and chocolate once I got home and then went out to eat for supper. We wanted to avoid busy crowds since Zach had practice later, so we chose Buffalo Wild Wings... a sports bar is not exactly a "romantic" spot, so we thought we would have good luck there. Turns out they were busy, but were able to seat us at a table right away and we were out of there within the hour. Not bad...

Do I Look Old Enough To Have A Kid Going To High School???!

AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!! Tonight was 8th grade "Transition Night" at the East High School here in Sioux City, where Zach will be attending classes this fall.... I can't believe he will soon be in high school!! I still remember his first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday!!!
When we arrived at the school tonight, there were signs welcoming the "Class of 2012" (that really isn't that far off, is it???!) We were introduced to the Principal and the three Assistant Principals (they divide the kids up by the letter of their last name) and the four guidance counselors (also divided by last name). Zach has Mr. Todd for an Asst. Principal and Mr. Lucas for a counselor. Most of the talk from them was about preparing for college, taking college courses while you are still in high school, special programs offered by the school for kids who want to go into engineering, etc. There was also someone there from ICAN (Iowa College Assistance Network) talking about scholarships, financial aid for college, etc. It was really intimidating, because I am sitting there thinking... my kid is only going to be a freshman!!! SLOW DOWN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! I don't even think we talked about college until we were Juniors in high school. But they say that in this day and age, with the workforce constantly changing, kids need to be more prepared than ever. So now we start thinking about college while we are trying to adjust to high school.... Next thing you know, I will have to be thinking about college when Brianna is just trying to go to middle school!!!
The last part of the evening was a tour of the high school to see where the classrooms are, etc. I know where some things are from going to the school for sports, etc. But when our "tour guide" was taking around... up and down steps, around corners, down lots of halls, right turns, left turns... I had NO CLUE where we were most of the time!! I was really glad when we got back to the gym because this was "familiar" turf!!! I asked Zach later what he thought... he said he will never remember where all those rooms are come August!!! He also doesn't like the idea of his classes being spread out all over the school... at the middle school, all the 8th grade classes are on one floor, 7th grade on their own floor, etc. I am sure he will be just fine!!! Many parents that I have spoken to that have already been through this have said that it is very intimidating, but once the kids get to school, the upperclassmen and the teachers are really great about helping the freshman kids around!!! At least I will have six months to get used to this idea... high school??? NO WAY!!!!! GET OUTTA HERE!!! (Jeez... where did all the time go???)

Happy 8th Birthday Brianna!!!

Brianna turned eight years old on Saturday, February 2nd!!! We had her birthday party on her actual birthday this year!!! We always do a little "family" one with just the four of us where we go out for supper wherever the birthday person chooses and then we also give the gifts from us. This year we went out on Friday night since Saturday was busy with the party with friends and family. Brianna chose to go eat at Wendy's (yes, she could eat there any day, but I guess she is still too young to figure out to ask to go to the more expensive places!!) and we gave her our gifts. She got a Baby Alive doll and a real purple guitar. She really loves the guitar, as she was playing it all night long!! And of course, we had to feed Baby Alive (now named Ariel) and make her pee!!!

On Saturday, I made Brianna's cake (she had a Hannah Montana themed party, so that is a guitar on her cake in the picture!) in the morning and then we had to pack because we were having a pool party at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City!!! She had a basketball game in the early afternoon, then after that it was all about the party!! We checked into the hotel and got a room because this was cheaper than booking the pool for the party. We had a blast!!! Brianna invited 12 girls and every one of them was able to make it!! Including cousins, etc. there were fifteen small children there!!! The kids swam around, ate pizza and cake, we opened presents, then they got back in the pool and swam until the parents arrived. We played some pool games and had a good time!! The three hours we slated for the party went by really fast!! Some of the parents even had trouble getting their kids out of the pool to leave!!! Two girls stayed after the party and spent the night in the hotel room with us, along with Grandma Joan!!! We let the kids swim for another couple hours before we finally had them get out... their eyes were really red and their fingers and toes were more wrinkled than raisins!! We went back to the room and the girls put their pajamas on while we made popcorn and put a movie in. I thought they would all fall asleep right away, thinking the swimmin wore them out. Well, my two kids were asleep shortly, but the other two girls stayed up for a while... one even made it to the end of the movie before she decided to go to sleep!!! They were really good, though!


The next morning, the girls got up around 8am, and we just watched TV and started packing up to check out and take everyone home. We left the hotel about 10am so Grandma could get back to Laurens because the weather forecast wasn't looking very good for later in the day, so she wanted to be off the road and home before then. All in all, I would have to say that this was one of the easiest and best parties we have done!!!