The rumor is true!

Tuesday afternoon while I was waiting to pick Clifford up from school, I overheard another classmates mom say something about kindergarten going back to its normal schedule (right now it's set up where they go 2 full days with alternate fridays). I went over to her and asked if she was serious and where she heard that. I guess she got wind of this from another parent who said the school superintendent decided to switch kindergarten back to every day half-day. They realized what a mess this new schedule was, and decided to do away with it. YES!! I disliked the schedule myself, and was hoping this was true. I emailed Clifford's teacher to ask if she knew this to be true, and if so, what schedule does she typically teach as I want Kristjan to have her as well next year. She replied back confirming kindergarten would go back to every day half day, and that she teaches afternoons. There is a form I have to fill out in order to request her for Kristjan. This is awesome news, though. Not only will it be better for learning purposes, but I'll also get 2 1/2 hours EVERYDAY to myself without kids!!!! Now, if only September could hurry here........

Mr. Popular

Clifford is one popular boy at school, not only within his kindergarten class, but with the older kids too. At the end of the school day you can hear older kids saying 'Hey Clifford!' Plus all the kids in his class and the other kindergarten class are always saying 'hi' or 'bye' to him (depending if he's coming or going). When Pete and I went to his first teacher conference, we were a little worried about how he was doing. After all, he is a Nielsen (haha). To our surprise his teacher told us that he's very popular, and the kids constantly choose him as a partner or to do something for the class. She said she has to remind the class that it's "someone else's turn".

Clifford is also popular with the ladies, especially with little Bella in his class. We've learned that she has kissed him on his cheek a few times, and her and her friends will sometimes chase him at recess. At the end of the day, she's always saying "Bye Clifford!" over and over until he acknowledges her.

So yesterday as we're walking home from school, Pete and I see Bella running across the grass field towards us yelling "Clifford! Clifford!" until she got his attention. She wanted to tell him "bye, see you tomorrow". A few seconds later she comes back over and asks him if he's bringing a toy tomorrow to class (for 'free play'). And the whole time Clifford is talking, he's using his deep mumbled voice, which he uses when he's trying to be cool or grown up. Bella finally takes off for good, and Clifford comes to walk with me and asks "mom, you know what I want to tell you?". I said "sure, but you know what I want to tell you?" He replies 'what?' I smile and say "Clifford and Bella sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He gets all embarrassed and runs ahead. Pete and I are cracking up, and Pete gives me props for that.

Next school year will be interesting to watch, with two Nielsen boys attending the same school :)

Rattlesnake Mountain

So my time alone with peace and quiet was short lived. Pete called me at their campsite at 7:30am so I could share in the experience of what he was dealing with at that moment. Pete woke up earlier in the morning to Kristjan crying because he had to go pee. So Pete had him get out of the tent and take care of business. Pete got out of his hammock to help Kristjan back in bed when he noticed Kristjan's eyes red and swollen! (fortunately, there were no breathing problems) He had no idea what caused it, but gave Kristjan some benedryl and cuddled with him in his hammock. Shortly after that the other kids started to wake up. One of them shouted "The dog puked in the tent!" Ugghh. Daniel went to investigate. Turns out it wasn't the dog who threw up, but one of the kids. After interrogating them, Clifford finally admitted (after lying about it) that he was the one who threw up in the tent sometime during the night. So Pete had to deal with the mess. Side note: Pete realized what caused Kristjan's allergy. Jessica made gorp for the boys. Kristjan had a special one made for him (without nuts), and the other three boys had theirs with nuts. Well, when Clifford puked, mixed with all the yummy-goodness was the gorp that had nuts. With all the kids squirming around sleeping during the night, and I'm sure Kristjan was sleeping right next to Clifford. Seriously, who would've thought it?! Fun times..fun times. So the morning goes on, they fix breakfast, and start working on packing up. Between all of this, for some reason (which this is completely unusual for him), Clifford messes up his pants. One more thing for Pete to deal with. I didn't really hear anything good come out of Pete's mouth about this trip. I feel bad since it's the first camping trip of the season for the kids. I'm just glad I didn't go :)

Peace and Quiet!!

What do I hear??? Nothing, absolutely nothing! No whiny kids, no husband asking me to do something for him, no dishwasher running. I have complete peace and quiet...at least for the next 24 hours :)

Pete took the boys up Snoqualmie Pass and met up with Daniel and his boys for an overnight hiking trip. Pete and Daniel have a goal of going out for a hike every weekend as training for their week long hiking trip they're going on later this summer. To compromise, every other weekend they will take the boys with them. This is the first hike of the year for the boys, and both of them were excited to go. And of course I'll miss them, but I was so happy once they left! It's so nice to get a break. I'm not doing one ounce of cleaning. I stocked the kitchen with a few of my favorite snacks (the best part about that? I don't have to share tonight! lol). I got caught up on the season finales of two of my favorite shows. I splurged for dinner. Since Pete has the car, I walked to the hole-in-the-wall teriyaki joint down the road for some take out. Afterwards, I ran myself a hot bubble bath while I read a bit. It was nice not having the kids run in to disturb me for one reason or another. To finish off the night, I think I'll scrapbook. The only downside to having Pete and the kids gone is I stay up way too late because I hate going to bed alone, and I want to make sure I'm extremely tired. But the plus side to that is I can sleep in as late as I want. I don't expect them home until after lunch time, so I'll still have plenty of quiet time tomorrow. I'm so loving this! :)

Down Under Quilt

Friday evening Pete started sewing his down under quilt to go underneath his camping hammock, which he'd just sewn the weekend prior. I'm very impressed with Pete's sewing skills. I've attempted to sew some projects on a sewing machine, but honestly, I suck at it (I'll stick with scrapbooking). Part of the process for making his down under quilt was he had to cut up his sleeping bag so he could take the down from it. Both Daniel (once he heard about this) and I were devastated! We both wanted this sleeping bag if Pete ever decided to get rid of it; it just keeps you so warm when you're out camping. Anyhoo, Pete cut into the sleeping bag and took half of the down out of it. The other half will go into the quilt that he'll make next, which he will use in place of a sleeping bag when he sleeps in his hammock. I helped hold the quilt fabric while Pete filled it with down. It took 90 minutes to complete, and by the end, there were little feathers everywhere in our living room (I think I accidentally inhaled a few lol). I must say it was impressive once he had it all done.

Pete working away at his sewing machine. He calls it his 'baby'
Pete pinning his fabric
Don't let that face fool you. Pete wasn't sad one bit to cut into it :)
Pete's wicked smile as he goes to make the first cut of his sleeping bag. I was so sad :)
The down under quilt almost complete. Pete just had to add some shock cord in order to hang and attach it to his hammock.

Oh Happy Day!!!

Today is a wonderful day! Pete and I have been waiting for this day to come for so long. In the picture above, Kristjan is holding a total of $130. Sadly (for him!) he doesn't get to keep that money. Instead, it went to his preschool teacher. We officially paid our LAST preschool payment.....EVER!!!! For the last four years we have paid for a total of 4 years worth of preschool tuition for both our boys. I'm very grateful that we were able to put them thru preschool, but I'm happy it's almost over with. Kristjan only has six more days of preschool left (plus graduation), which means I only have to drive back and forth to Bothell twelve more times (take him to school and back, pick him up and back). It will be nice to not have Preschool for a bill, as well as our gas bill should go down for our car! :)

Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day this year. I was able to start the morning off by sleeping in to nearly 9am! When I woke up and headed out to the living room, Pete was cooking up some breakfast. He made me pancakes, bacon and hashbrowns. I opened my gifts the boys made me at school. Clifford drew me a picture and wrote "I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day". I had Clifford tell me about the picture he drew, and I got a good chuckle. The picture was me swimming in a hottub. Above was Clifford with a whip, saving me from an alligator that was going to eat me :) Kristjan made me a keepsake box with his picture on top of it. Inside the box was a bracelet he made for me. I loved the card he gave me as well. His teacher asked him questions about me and here's what he answered:

"My Mom"
My mom likes to go shopping
My mom likes to wear red dresses
My mom's favorite thing to eat is yucky food
I like to help my mom clean the house
My mom likes it when I help her
My mom doesn't like it when I be rude
I like it when my mom is happy with me
My mom makes the best dinner (macaroni and cheese!)
I think it is funny when my mom laughs

I relaxed the rest of the day. Pete did some dishes and took care of the kids. For dinner he smoked up some bbq ribs while I fixed baked potatoes, baked beans and corn on the cob. For dessert we had "white trash tiramasu". It was a very nice Mother's Day, and I'm so grateful to have my two boys!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Another holiday we Americans "celebrate" as an excuse to eat yummy food and drink margaritas! :)

On our menu for this years Cinco de Mayo dinner: homemade chimichangas, homemade chicken taquitos, mexican rice, homemade guacamole, and molded margaritas (non-alcoholic for the boys, of course). For dessert, 'not fried' fried ice cream drizzled with warm honey and fresh strawberries.

It was all oh-so good! And we have plenty of left overs for this weekend :)

Kristjan's 2nd to last set of preschool projects

Damien's Birthday

Sunday we went down to Les Grove Park in Auburn to help celebrate Damien's 6th birthday. We arrived early so we could help Daniel and Jessica set up for the party. Daniel and Pete both brought their bbq's down to grill up some hamburgers and hotdogs. Jessica had asked if I would make and decorate Damien's birthday cake. He requested a 'soccer ball' cake. I was more than happy to say yes to his request, though a little nervous about how I was going to transport it down without ruining it (all worked out just fine in the end). The party was a lot of fun. You couldn't have asked for better weather, with the sun shining brightly! The party consisted mostly of Jessica's side of the family, with us, Uncle Dale and Sherry, and Aunt Janet and Franie representing the "Nielsen" side. It was nice to chat with everyone. I enjoyed when Damien opened up his gifts, especially the one we gave him. A few weeks back when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said "a birdhouse". So we picked up a birdhouse kit from Lowes that he can build with his dad and a bag of birdseed. Well, when he opened his gift, he first pulled out the bag of birdseed. The expression of cluelessness and the look of "uh, thanks?" as he looked at the bag of birdseed was priceless. Pete and I couldn't help but laugh. Gotta love Damien! At the end, we stayed behind to help them clean up as well. We had a great time. I'm just glad we get a break from 'family birthdays' until June, although our next two weekends consist of 'friend birthdays' for the boys. It just never ends! :)





Aaahh....here's a pic of the boys in time out. They decided to go down to the (extremely busy) playground without proper adult supervision AND without telling me or Pete. Needless to say they got in serious trouble and couldn't play on the playground during the remaining time at the party.
Damien's birthday cake. Made with love from his 'favorite' auntie :)
Damien opening his gifts.