My Gabby girl

Oh, how I love my children! Gabby says so many cute and funny things. They all do, but as they get older, they seem to say funny things a bit less. One night a couple of weeks ago, I had tucked her into bed and left the room. A couple of minutes later she began calling for me. I felt a bit annoyed, to be honest. I had work to do. She needed to sleep. There was no reason for her to be calling for me.

I walked in the room and said, "Yes, Gabby." She said, "Good night. I hope the fleas don't bite." (Fleas, bed bugs...no matter the rhyme, they better not be bitin was my immediate thought.) Instead of feeling annoyed, I immediately felt grateful. For her cleverness. For her sweetness. For her humor and the way she makes me laugh and smile. That she loves me despite my sometimes cranky attitude. That she forgives me when I'm not as patient as I want to be. For her smile that makes me happy. For her love.

Two days ago, I noticed Gabby was in my room reading herself a book. She couldn't read all the words yet, but she had no problem telling herself a story (even though it's a book I haven't taken time to read to her yet.)

Love. That.Girl!

Built to Amaze: Circus 2013

Three weeks ago, the girls and I went with friends to the circus. Alfredo was unable to make it because he had to work late, so we brought along our friend Aelora. We made it in time for the pre-show on the floor. We ran into friends from our neighborhood, so that was fun.


They had clowns and dancers leading people in dancing Gangum style and while Gabby wouldn't go out and dance with the dancers, she was dancing by us.


I think we will take a year or two off from the circus, because somehow it did not seem to amaze quite as much as usual. It was still fun, but it just didn't impress as much as it has the past two years. But maybe I was just extra tired...we went straight there after my second day of parent teacher conferences, and on a week when Alfredo had inventory and was working long hours. So I was overwhelmed and exhausted.


There were some highlights. Loved the unicyclists that played basketball.


The girls are all animal lovers, so of course we all loved the parts with animals. The lion tamer. The elephants. But this year the biggest highlight was probably the dogs. There were full size poodles that were just amazing.



Of course, another highlight of the circus is being there with friends and enjoying this experience with them. It was Aelora's first time at the circus, and she really enjoyed it.


Another favorite part for the girls was these men that jumped on trampolines and then onto frameworks (as if they were Builders"). And the tight rope walkers and acrobats are always impressive. So was the man on Ginormous stilts.



Okay, so maybe it was just as amazing as ever. Maybe I was just tired and stressed out. (I have been a little bit tired and stressed out this school year. The girls seemed to enjoy it a lot.) Circus 2013...it was built to amaze.

Scarecrow Festival

Today we went to the scarecrow festival at Westridge Academy. It is free, and it was fun.

Alfredo is an amazing dad. Michelle really wanted to do the bungee jumping (on trampolines...very safe and not scary). The line looked fairly long, so right away, Alfredo and Michelle went to get in line. I took Ella and Gabby and got in line for the train. We rode the train.


We checked in with Alfredo, and they were still in line. Ella and Gabby got "Glitter tattoos" on their faces.

They were still in line.

Ella and Gabby went on several inflatable bouncy houses. They tolerated me taking a bunch of pictures.


Michelle and Alfredo were still in line.

Gabby, Ella, and I bought food, and went to find them in line. Alfredo's friend Thomas joined us, and we sat near the line and gave Michelle and Alfredo food. They began to trade off...one would stand in line while the other would come and visit and eat. Alfredo stood in that line with Michelle for over 2 1/2 hours. Way past the time when I would have said, "Forget this. We have a trampoline at home. I'm not waiting any longer." But he waited patiently for it to be Michelle's turn. Finally, finally, it was Michelle's turn. Ella decided to try it out too. Many adults were doing it, but Alfredo didn't want to, so Ella took his spot in line and Michelle, Ella and Kaleb all tried it out.

Michelle absolutely loved it. She jumped and bounced as high as she could. She did back flip after back flip. Ella really enjoyed it too. She didn't want to do any flips, but she bounced higher and higher. Kaleb was less certain but ended up liking it as well. Gabby had no desire to even try.

After the bungee jumping, the younger kids headed with Alfredo and Thomas so they could ride the train.


Michelle wanted to rock climb, so I waited in line with her. She did awesome and made it to the top.


The girls went on a few more inflatables, and then we got ready to leave. It was a fun way to spend the day...despite the long wait for the bungee jumping. Best dad ever award for waiting there for so long!