Kali's 11th Birthday - Spa Style

Kali and 7 of her friends had a great time at Spa 730! The evening started with spa fare on the menu - complete with veggie sushi! The girls then rotated through the mani/pedi station, the facial station and the massage station. Kelly and Donna were awesome! All the trappings were organic - the banana honey facial and the brown sugar scrub. By the end of the evening fingers and toes were in tip top shape and faces were silky smooth! The rest of the night involved dancing, skits and games - a good old fashioned sleep over! By 1 am the girls were asleep, mostly - and my house was somewhat back to normal. The morning brought homemade monkey bread and 3 lbs of bacon!!! These girls were definitely not vegetarians! The party was a resounding success and I couldn't of done it without Auntie Kelly and Auntie Donna - they rock! Kali is one very lucky, albeit spoiled, little lady!

A Spooktacular Time for The Girls!

Halloween is in full swing! We have carved pumpkins and roasted seeds. Even though the weather has been ridiculously cold and rainy, we have been enjoying all that fall offers.

Kali had her 5th grade overnight field trip to Camp YNoah and had a great time despite the cold and dampness. We made our yearly trek to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate the girls birthdays. Peyton is big enough to ride all the water slides by herself! She was so happy! We are furiously making plans for Kali's Spa Party and Peyton's Build-A-Bear Extravaganza. The autumn is always action packed for us. This year the addition of the ever multiplying fundraisers for show choir - concession stand at Zips games, tagging, bake sales, Reggae Brunch, OSU raffle tickets, etc., etc. - has made for very little down time. I guess I should be glad that the weather has been so crappy - no time to enjoy the Hiking Spree this year!

An Amazing Autumn

Somehow, we all survived my 2 week absence. Santa Fe was definitely an experience-see the following signs taken on my trip. Akron never looked so good.Now it's back to the craziness we call life. I'm working my 4 jobs, Jimmy's still working his 2. Kali is up to her ears in fundraising for her show choir trip to Spain. She's dancing, she's taking TKD and still studying hard. Miss Peyton is doing a stellar job in Kindergarten - top of her class, if you believe it! I sat in her 1st parent-teacher and could of sworn I was listening to Mrs. Marksz talking about Kali! We are so proud of Peyton for doing so well in school. She also lost her very 1st tooth! She really is growing up. Both girls did a fashion show this weekend - they were awesome. Watch out world, the Oliver girls love the catwalk!

Back to School Blues? Not Really

Well, Summer is fading and everyone is getting back into the school thing, except me. I have been furiously trying to get my family ready for my 2 week absence. I will be traveling to Santa Fe, NM for teacher training for my outreach job. I am excited about the trip, but it has not been easy preparing for it. I'm gonna miss my sweet girls, I know Kali will be OK (she's use to being on her own) but Peyton is a different matter. She is a Momma's girl and she's never been without me for more than 2 days! Let's hope Jimmy can keep his head above the water, I'm grateful that he is even willing to try.

We spent the last day of vacation at East Harbor Beach. The girls had a great time playing in Lake Erie. It was a picture perfect day and a wonderful way to bring Summer to a close.

Dreams Do Come True ... Just ask Peyton