Stetson's 1st paycheck

Stetsypoo (as i affectionately call my second oldest nephew) got his first paycheck this week! Holy cow, the children are getting old. it's weird. And good at the same time.

in honor of this grand occasion i chose to document it with pictures (is there any other way?).

What a grown-up.

"Look at all this money i earned!"

"i'm so excited!"

Yay.

bakery field trip

Yesterday i had the grand opportunity to take most of the kids on a bakery field trip for a class project.

My sisters were willing to join me with their kids (and day care) to go to the King Soopers bakery for a tour. There was a small glitch in the plans when the bakery manager wasn't there to give us our tour until about half an hour later. But Amber, being the angel that she is, got the kids some juice and snacks for while we waited. it totally threw me off when we had 30 minutes to kill because as much as we talk about all of these strategies in my classes, when i got the chance for practical application my mind kind of blanked.

BUT the manager did arrive and the kids loved the tour!

Checking out all of the decorated cakes:

She's explaining how they get all of their bread made each day:

They got to see how the bakery slices their bread:

And try some:

Mission accomplished.

Never Forget: 11/16/12

in the future we will be able to tell our children that we remember when Hostess went bankrupt. We remember when the Twinkie was discontinued. And it was a sad day when this American novelty was no longer. There was a run on the stores and gas stations similar to that of when there was a run on the banks back in 1929. it was crazy. The article about the bankruptcy came out on Thursday and by Friday afternoon the only Hostess items available were the old-fashioned donettes and the weird fruit pies; which, let's be real, no one likes those anyways. Except maybe my friend's dad. But as far as everyone else goes those are bottom of the totem pole.

We figure the world truly will end as the Mayans predicted because the one food that's supposed to last till through the apocalypse has been discontinued. Way to go, America. 

Saturday morning Calah called me with a mission. She needed one Twinkie. Evie needed one Twinkie. The poor little girl needs to be able to say that she has at least had ONE Twinkie in her life. And so my qquest began. i stopped by three gas stations before i remembered that Momo had told me she had a Twinkie in the treats tin her grandpa had given her! i quick as a bunny called her up and asked if i could buy it from her (she doesn't like Twinkies anyways so it wouldn't be a big deal). Like the angel that she is she said yes. Huzzah!

Mission accomplished.

Although it will be a sad time without our Hostess deliciousness, Evie will have the grand opportunity to taste a Twinkie. Now, whether she actually likes it or not will be a whole other thing entirely.

Miss Calah's Birthday!

This last weekend my dear sister celebrated her birthday. it was perfect (at least i think so). We went out to lunch with the lovely ladies at work to the absolute best Mexican food place: Joe Bandido's. Then i got to accompany her and her in-laws (some of the greatest people ever) to Red Lobster for endless shrimp. Calah and i LOVE our shrimp!

This also happened to be Evie's first time trying it. The verdict?

She loved it! i know she isn't making that oh-my-goodness-this-is-the-best-thing-ever kind of face, but seriously, she loved it. The girl ate through TWO skewers of teriyaki shrimp on her own. How many shrimp per skewer? TEN! That's right, little Miss Evie ate through a whole twenty shrimp. Obviously she's a fan.

The waiters were also so kind and sang happy birthday to Calah.

Calah and Evie also made a new friend:

 
Following dinner we all gathered at her grandma-in-law's home for dessert.

Evie made another new friend:

i am so thankful to have Calah. She is one of the best sisters ever and i can't imagine being in Utah without her. She's always there when i need someone and she has some freaking awesome advice (even if the situation isn't particularly awesome). i just love her to pieces!