Weeks of Birthday Partying and Other Happenings

The girl's 6th birthday was a little weird this year.  Camille got that flu bug that everyone got on her birthday.  So we cancelled the party.  Then the rest of us got sick.  Then there was Thanksgiving.  Then an awesome party!  But I didn't take any good pictures.  Behold:

 Camille got stickers!

 Paul was gone, so Camille took her turn talking on the phone with him while Grace blew up a balloon!

 I improved upon the internet recipe for darling acorns made of nutter butters and hershey's kisses.  That's right- now is my moment to shine!  Poll:  What looks more like an acorn to you?  Hershey's kiss, or Reese's bell?  I'm kind of torn.

 Our babysitter's windshield got smashed by a huge fallen branch as we were headed out for the night.  It sure has been windy here!

 What you can't see in the picture are 8 little girls having a lovely time at Camille and Grace's glow in the dark party.

Here they are, opening presents!

I was worried that the party wouldn't be very cool- Lots of people around here go all out on birthday parties. But, despite my pathetic favors from the dollar store (clip-on flashlights that promptly broke in everyone's hot little hands), everyone had a great time.  One girl said, "this is the best party ever!  A small party {wistfullly}." And my girls, when asked, said that their favorite part of the party was "everything".  When asked what part she didn't like, Grace said, "do you not understand what 'everything' means?  It means I liked all of it."  Ah, 6 year olds.

I was telling Paul last night that I really like this age.  He said, "Oh, I don't know- remember all of the fun things that they used to say and do?"  But I had to cut him off.  Because I remember all too well the fun things that they used to say and do, but like the old ladies in the grocery store keep telling me, they grow up too fast.  And I have to enjoy it while I have it.  Gee whiz, those old ladies are right!  And I'm turning into one of them- which is only fitting, I suppose, as I have two beautiful girls who are six.

A Little Too Smart for Her Own Good

The girls have been working on writing and spelling in their kindergarten class.  This evening they were doing a writing exercise with Sarah; she was giving them words and they were trying to spell and then write them.  Partway through the exercise Sarah told them to write the word "ship".

After a bit of back and forth, they decided to guess that "c-h" should be used to write the "sh" sound.

"No," said Sarah. "Can you think of any other words that start with a 'Sh' sound?  Maybe that will help you to figure out what letters go together to make the 'Sh' in 'ship'."

After a moment of reflection Camille said, "How about....chandelier?"

Sarah Supermom

For the past couple of days I (Paul) have been afflicted with a stomach flu bug that has been going around.  Tuesday afternoon was especially miserable.  However, one thing I have been reminded of as a result of the stomach flu is how super-duper my wife is.  All of the rest of the family got the stomach bug last week at the beginning of the week when I was away on a trip to Washington D.C.  Sarah had to take care of the sick kids all on her own while she was sick herself (At one point, from what I hear, she tried "delegating" a few tasks to Camille; Camille responded by building a nest on our living room sofa and falling asleep).  Honestly, I can't imagine how she possibly did it. 

So one thing I am thankful for on this holiday is an amazing wife who is a super-duper mother!

Newsies

My little economist has been quite busy the past few weeks and hasn't been able to create his first "Ask the Economist" post.  But, perhaps this article in today's LA Times will satiate the thirst of those waiting for Paul's views on economics as related to crime.  Nice work, Dr. Heaton.  I'm proud of you!

Disneyland: Or, Things May Not be as They Seem

We went last weekend to Disneyland for the girls' birthday.  Their birthday is actually next week, but this weekend worked for us, so we decided to go then, and we're happy that we did.  Although we missed out on some of the Christmas "magic", the lines were short, the weather was great, and the kids were happy all day until they asked to go home.  That's right, the kids wanted to leave Disneyland of their own accord.  It seems that we are not very good Disney goers.  I like Disneyland personally because of the memories that I have there of my childhood.  So, as an adult, I feel that I want to let my children have similar good memories.  I think that my kids had a good time, but I wonder if they feel the same way about it that I did as a child.  It's okay with me if they don't- honestly, I would rather have them love stuff that is "real" than an entertainment experience.  Does that sound Scroogey or what?

This day at Disneyland was a little funny.  We got there just as they were about to start filming the ABC Christmas Day parade.  That's right, when you think that you are watching the Disneyland Parade live on Christmas morning (because that's what you do with your Christmas morning, right?)  you're really watching something filmed over and over several times over a month before!  And later that night a huge "new years" party was staged in front of the castle with a band playing (One Republic) the same song with multiple takes and varying degrees of direction and audience support.  So, the New Year's Celebrations that you see on Dick Clark's rockin' new year's eve are filmed months in advance too.  In some ways I like that, I mean, then everyone gets to do what they really want to do during the holidays (be with their families, or watching other people celebrate on TV) but in other ways, it's kind of disappointing to realize that it's not real.  And that is the magic of Hollywood, I suppose.

 Paul and Camille on the Nemo ride.  During part of the ride that was slightly scary, Clark said, "Um, maybe we should get off?"  That Clark is our comic relief every time.

 Happy Grace

 Happy Camille

 Happy Clark

 On the Winnie the Pooh ride (we rode this three times because there was no line and it was not scary, especially after I made the girls ride on Splash Mountain right before.  They will probably never trust me again.)

 New Year's Eve Show

Complete with New Year's Eve fireworks.

We had a really great day, despite all of my nay-saying above, and were really excited to get to spend it with my parents- especially my dad- a Disney expert supreme.  Hoorah for Disneyland!

Happy Halloween!

 The 2 year-olds ended up being a kind of zoo!  Piratess is a type of animal, right?

 The wings

 Fun running into friends from the neighborhood,

 and church and school.

 Having 2 kids in the same class at least creates symmetry with the decor.

 The hill we climb up to and from school

 My little monkey- hopped up on goofballs.

I just love my girls.

Ask the Economist

We're starting a new series here on the Happy Family blog called "Ask the Economist".  Do you have a question about economic terminology?  Perhaps you took Econ 101 three times and failed- surely all of those terms are stuck somewhere in the back of your head- but what exactly do they mean?  Our in-house economist has the answers to all of your questions, and will explain them in layman's terms.  Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and we'll get our new series under way.