Not only cute... but smart!!!

When I was pregnant with Caden, a very wise mother told me to be sure to read to my children every night and as soon as they can read to let them read to you every night. I didn't really see the point when Caden was so tiny, but I trusted this lady so I gave it a shot. I will admit that I didn't even come close to reading to him every night until he was about 1 year old. Then we began looking at books every night together for about 20-30 minutes. He was very interested in stories and pictures, and eventually letters and words.
Caden began fluently reading when he was 4.
Calli began fluently reading when she was 4.
Cienna began fluently reading when she was 4.
I have always known they were good readers and that they actually enjoyed it, but I didn't have any idea really how important it is to understand early on. I went to parent teacher conference last week and each teacher said the same thing about my children. They were good kids, good friends, they were usually on task, they helped others, but the teachers couldn't stress to me how amazing the kids were doing academically.

Caden is reading at a 5th grade 9th month reading level- He is in 3rd grade.

Calli is reading at a 4th grade level- She is in 1st grade.

Cienna is reading at a 2nd grade 6th month level- She is in Kindergarten.

Caden's teacher just flat out told me that the kids that can't read, struggle with EVERY other aspect of school. Think about it, if they can't read, they can't figure out the word problems in math. If they can't read, they can't follow simple written instructions. If they can't read, they can't add the simple ingredients of a recipe.
I am grateful every day for that special lady that stressed to me the importance of reading to my children and listening to them read to me. If I could offer any advice to moms or dads, it will be the same, read to your children every night and when they are old enough to read to you, listen!!! Such a simple thing, but my kids will benefit from this for the rest of their lives.
Now when my children ask for 5 more minutes of reading time, or if they can read a story to me, I smile so big and laugh to myself because really... can you deny them an amazing future??? Not me...I love these kids!!!

Valentines Day

My Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful. Brian was working out of town, kids were at school, and I had the day off of work. I woke up early to set out the kids presents. They just got some flowers and candy, but were very excited to see them downstairs. I guess the most Valentines-y thing I did was my girls hair. I had made hair pretties a few days before and had to put them in cute hair. I follow a couple of hair blogs and one of them showed a ton of easy heart hair dos so I ventured into the unknown. I think they turned out cute... wouldn't you say?

Calli's heart hair

Cienna's heart hair

I took the kids to school and went home to clean. I decided that I didn't want to have lunch by myself so I invited my brother and sis  in law and my cute niece out. We visited and had a nice lunch. Then, I went to the library. I know, I know, I am pretty boring.

Brian was able to make it home that evening so he brought flowers and chocolate and a card home to me. He even made me an amazing rib eye dinner. He is such an amazing cook. We put the kids to bed and stayed up watching "That 70's show" for a few hours.

It actually turned out to be a rather pleasant Valentine's Day in the Candelaria home!!!

What I love most about my family:

Brian is so easy going and is a huge help now that I am working. He makes most meals and makes sure my kids get to where they need to be.

Caden is the best big brother on the planet. He helps me around the house and is a very responsible person. He plays nicely with his sisters and is always there to kill a spider for me.

Calli has the biggest heart in the world. She is the first person to help when someone is sad or hurt. She would honestly give you her coat and boots on a snowy day if you needed them.

Cienna is the comic relief in our family. She says and does the funniest things and can make almost anyone laugh. She knows how to take a joke and how to dish them out.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!

University of Utah gymnastics meet

Calli and I went to the University of Utah gymnastics meet on 2/4. We got the closest seats we could buy and set out on our gymnastics adventure. We drove to Salt Lake and then rode TRAX to the gym. It was cancer awareness night and when we got to our seat there was a pink shirt hanging over it. We put it on and watched the warm ups. They even had cheerleaders for the gymnasts!!! I thought it was so weird, but they were fun to watch too. The Red Rocks started on the vault, went to bars, then beam, and last floor. They all did so good and they won the meet. Calli had so much fun watching the "big girls" and said that she wanted to buy a picture for them to sign. It was actually pretty convenient that they were doing autographs that night. We got in line early and we got all the gymnasts to sign her picture. She was one happy girl!!!

Pic is a little blurry, but I couldn't believe how high off the beam she was!

Calli's favorite dismount, she said she is going to work on that. ;)

Sporting her pink shirt!

Lets go Cubbies!

Baseball season is fast approaching! I can't even tell you how excited I am... but I will try. I am so super, super excited!!! Last year, Brians baseball team (Cubs) won the championship for their league. It was so amazing. This year we didn't know if we would be able to get our team back together. I guess people had to, like, work or something stupid like that. Anyway, we were told to look for another team to play on. I was so sad that we weren't going to be able to defend our title for one year, but we found another team to play for. Last week we got the call that the Cubbies are back together. We are missing a few of our players, but we will totally make a run for it!!! I am busting out the baseball bag with all the game necessities. Big blanket, chair, sunglasses, sunscreen, big umbrella, score book, extra baseballs, etc. You can just say I am READY!!!

No longer a wolf scout...

Because Caden has moved on to become a Bear Scout!!! He worked sooooo hard and that all came to fruition at the January pack meeting. He was recognized for advancing as well as receiving a TON of gold and silver arrows. He looked so handsome in his little uniform when he was pinning the little wolf pin on me. Brian was unable to make it because he was working out of town, so there aren't any pictures. :( It is all his fault! Just kidding! Caden said his favorite part of being a wolf scout was the day camp that he participated in. It was held in July at our local recreation center and they had a Huck Finn theme. Although it rained and we were all really cold, the leaders adapted quickly and they had a blast!!!

I am so proud of Caden and ALL of his hard work!!! 

I guess we better start working on his Bear book now. 

Gymnastics

Calli has been doing so well in gymnastics these last few years. This year she moved up in age groups, but was still able to hold her own. Her favorite events are beam and floor. She has really excelled at these and has been improving almost daily on bars. She still is having some issues with that dang mill circle but she is so dang close!

Her best scores this year are:
Floor: 9.25
Beam: 9.25
Bars: 8.3
Vault: 9.0

She will be moving up to a level four at the end of this month. I couldn't be more proud!!!

First Place

First Place

Vault warm up

Beam warm up

Cinderella Pageant

This year Cienna has faced a mess of medical problems. One of them being a 6-7 degree curve in her spine. Our  doctor informed us that 10 degrees of curve is considered scoliosis and with her being so young we needed to watch it with a CT for the next couple of years. So, we decided to take a break from gymnastics just to keep any extra strain off her developing spine and back. I wanted her to be able to do something special since she loved gymnastics so much. She is a huge girlie girl so my cousin suggested the Cinderella pageant program. I was nervous at first because we have seen that pageant show on TLC and I did NOT want to be a crazy mom like that. My cousin assured me that it was not like that at all.

We arrived at her first Cinderella pageant a little nervous and very excited. She had her up close interview and she came out smiling. She said that the judges were very nice and that they laughed at what she said. I was very happy that her personality came out in that interview because really, the up close interview is where the biggest part of the score comes from. Next was casual wear. She had a super cute outfit and did her walk perfectly. She was the ONLY girl that did her turn in the right spot and waited for the right moment to move to the next spot on the stage. She was stunning!!! Next was her formal wear walk... and again she was absolutely perfect! Her dress glittered and her dress flowed perfectly when she turned. I was such a proud mama! Lastly, was the on stage interview. She was very first and I could tell she was nervous. It took her a little while longer to come up with an answer to one of the questions. In the end, it turned out great. She got 3rd place (1st attendant to Beauty) out of 16 girls!!! I want to remind you that this was her first pageant too.

Her are some pictures of her beautiful, amazing first pageant:

Getting ready!

Formal Wear

Interview dress (custom made by my awesome friend)

Calli!!!

I don't think I can express in writing how much I love this little girl! She is so much like me in every way... but only the good parts. :) How did she get the sweet part of me AND Brian??? I am so late in posting this, but my very special middle child turned 7 years old last month. You just heard it in the last post, but where does the time go?

Some things Calli enjoys:
*Anything HORSES (she is just a tad bit obsessed)
*Gymnastics
*Reading
*Playing with friends
*Painting and coloring
*Cheerleading

Some things Calli is good at:
*Gymnastics
*Reading
*Being a kind, good friend
*Sensing people's feelings (and acting accordingly)
*Writing (kid has better handwriting than me)
*Cheer

Some things I absolutely LOVE about Calli:
*Her genuine kindness
*Her belly laugh
*That she prefers to stay in bed and read on stormy days
*Her willingness to share
*That she is the first one to volunteer to say the prayer
*Her long beautiful dark brown hair
*Her love for her family and friends


I can honestly say that I look up to this little girl. She is just GOOD, in all things. She has a tender heart, but is still not afraid to share her heart with everyone. I will never forget the time she went up to a complete stranger in Mervyn's (remember that store my friends?) and gave her a hug. I was a little upset at first because she could have been taken, but when the cute little old lady came up to me and said what a sweet child I have and that she had made her day, I felt a little better. Anyway, I know this is late, but Happy Birthday Calli Sue Grace Sassafrass Candelmalaria the Turd!!! You are my favorite 7 year old girl in the world!!!