Fancy School

As you all know, my girls can't get enough of the Fancy Nancy books.  They love them so much that I turned one school day into "fancy day" where they got to dress up fancy and learn how to eat at a fancy restaurant (table setting, manners, and all).  At the end of the day, I gave them each a new Fancy Nancy book.  It was a fun break in the every day routine!

Anyways, Rose has been studying the Fancy Nancy books lately and saying "I am getting a lot of good ideas from these books!"  One of the ideas that she came up with was to have "fancy school" where she would teach her not so fancy family how to be fancy...just as Nancy does in the original Fancy Nancy book.

So she started by making a sign to advertise (that's a fancy word for tell people about something, as Nancy would say :) and stuck it on the fridge.

We all met in the school room and she started the lesson.

She put at lot of work into her fancy school.  She made signs that either said 'fancy' or 'plain' and put them by different objects to help us understand which things were fancy and which were not.

At the end of the lesson, we had to put our learning into practice and put together a fancy outfit for ourselves.  Here is what a few of the students came up with.

That night, to celebrate our new "fancy" family, we dressed up and went out to dinner (just as they do in the book) to our local El Nopal restaurant for some exquisite Mexican cuisine.  They were excited they got to do things just like Fancy Nancy!

My 3 little movie stars!

The next Fancy Nancy idea that Rose decided to recreate was her Fabulous Fashion Boutique in the front yard.  She used the Kool-Aid stand that our neighbors so generously gave to us, gathered some accessories, hung up a few signs, and Voila! the boutique was in session.

The little diva showing off her work!

Some sweet neighbor kids (and Ava) bought a few things from her...enough that she deemed her boutique a success.  She was just tickled with herself!

Her next Fancy Nancy project...an Explorer Club.  This girl always has an adventure up her sleeve!

Klinker Tradition

If you know the Klinkers, you know that they take excellent care of their vehicles.  Not only do they know how to fix many problems on their own (thanks to the example of their father), but they have the cleanest cars in town!

When we first got married, Paul couldn't wait to own a house so he could easily wash his car whenever he wanted.  And I have to say, most Saturday mornings when the weather is decent, that is where you will find him...outside washing and/or waxing one of our cars.  Our neighbors used to joke that his car was clean enough and asked if he wanted to clean their cars instead.  They even made a t-shirt for him with the nickname of "car washer" on the back.

As soon as our girls can walk, Paul lets them help him wash the car.  It is one of their favorite pasttimes.

Here is Rose washing the car at 21 months old

I love to watch them out there next to him, so little, but scrubbing like little pros!

Here Rose is almost 5, Ava is 3 1/2, & Madeline is almost 2

My friends often comment about how they can't believe how clean my van is.  But I can't take any credit for it.  In fact I don't think I have ever washed the outside of any of our cars since we have had a house...maybe even since we have been married.  (I can't believe I am admitting that...that is terrible!)  But in my defense, that is Paul's domain.  He enjoys washing his car and I don't want to take that away from him :)

All the girls helping 'Daddy' in September

Ella's first time washing the car

Rose is an old pro by now

I am very thankful that Paul keeps my van clean inside and out...which is a big job when you have 4 kiddos!  I love that he includes the girls in something that he enjoys.  It is fun Daddy-daughter time and teaches them a skill at the same time!

Summer Flashback

This weekend, Jack came down to visit....just him.   He brought treats and activities for the girls, we played games, went for a hike...it was such a treat to have him come!

Doing the activity Jack brought...making candy necklaces

Ready to eat!

Having him here made me think of his visits in the summer, which led me to realize that I never posted pictures about Olivia and Madeline's visit this summer!  So now that the cooler weather is starting to set in, here is a little flashback to the warmer days of summer!

Olivia and Madeline came to stay with us the first week of August, right before they headed back to school.  I have said this before, but I love when my sisters come!  We do lots of girly things together; like crafts, baking, shopping and we watch movies and play lots of games (which I LOVE!).  They even came to a work out class with me while they were here!  They were going to help with Rose's birthday party that week, but with the girls getting sick, they unfortunately had to miss out.

Working hard making wire jewelry

Madeline excited about all the jewelry she made

We also had a special visitor that week,
the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Madeline helping Ava pray the rosary

Girls night out!  We went shopping and to Tevana
to try some new tea...SO good!

More jewelry we made with lace and leather

Big Madeline & little Madeline playing dress-up

Big Madeline belting out a song on Rose's new microphone

Tutus galore!!!

Ava and Olivia

Olivia holding the note Rose wrote for her

Cards!!!

Ella wearing the dress Olivia made her!

Sweet baby face!

Olivia playing Pretty Pretty Princess with the girls

Paul was definitely outnumbered with all these girls!!!

The week always goes by so quickly...I never want the fun to end!

Hugs!

Girls Weekend in New York

So, my awesome husband was trying to figure out when to use a flight voucher he had, and suggested that I use it to go to New York to have a girls weekend with Amanda!  AND, he used his Hilton points to get us a free hotel room.  I mean, seriously...how was I lucky enough to marry such a guy?!

I flew into NY Saturday morning and Amanda took a bus from DC to meet me there.  It was a quick trip...we had about 29 hours from start to finish, but we made the most of it.  We saw most of the sites we wanted to see...we did a LOT of walking!  We did take a double-decker bus tour for about an hour and half on Saturday, which was a nice break, and for a night tour as well.

I'm not used to navigating a new city without the help of my directionally savvy husband, so we did get turned around a couple times, but overall, I think we did pretty well.

Some pictures from our trip...

NY Public Library...so beautiful!

Empire State Building...102 floors!  Each year in February they
have a race to see who can get to the top the fastest.  The
record so far is 9 minutes and 43 seconds!

Me by the Statue of Liberty :)

World's Largest Store, Macy's
11 floors of shopping!

Ok...not an official sight, but funny nonetheless.
A lady pushing her dog in a stroller.  Oh, the
things you see in New York!

Tons of pigeons in New York!   Made me think of  Home Alone

Times Square...always packed with people!

New Years Eve Wishing Wall.  All the wishes on the wall
will be dropped in the ball on New Years Eve, so of
course we had to put our wishes up there :) 

Parsons School for Design
from the show Project Runway

The real Penn Station...not the sandwich place :)

NY Post Office...SO big!

Awesome view of Empire State Building

The bull statue from Hitch

NY style pizza

Statue of Liberty

9/11 Memorial pool where one of the WTCs used to stand

Only tree that survived the 9/11 attack

Cute little dinner outside at the restaurant, Casa Bella, in Little Italy

Sidewalk view of the Casa Bella restaurant

Beautiful view of the NY Skyline (blurry because we are on a bus)

Amanda and I enjoying the NYC nightlife:)

St. Patrick's Cathedral where Cardinal Timothy Dolan
celebrated the mass we went to on Sunday. 

We lit a candle at the beautiful statue of St. Rose of Lima,
Rose's patron saint and Amanda's confirmation saint.

FAO Schwartz candy store
We tried chocolate covered gummy bears!

Beautiful view in Central Park

Me in front of the boat house from 27 Dresses

And my favorite....Belvedere Castle in Central Park
We got to go up to the 2 upper levels to see the awesome view

Amazing view from Belvedere Castle

I was definitely ready to hit the pillow by the end of Sunday night! But I was so thankful for a weekend away and for Paul (and his parents!) holding down the fort while I was gone.

Hugs!