Happy Birthday, Mom!

"All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother"

- Abraham Lincoln

"Grandmother- a wonderful mother with lots of practice!"

- Author Unknown

Happy Birthday to the world's most amazing mom, mother-in-law and grandma!

We love you!

Actress

Rian didn't get a whole lot of touches during this game but she really wanted me to get video of her. At half time I told her she needed to get and keep the ball for a little while so I could capture it. As soon as she lost the ball at the end of this clip she immediately looked over at me and asked "did you get that?" Maybe we should have her in acting instead of soccer.

Thanksgiving

Day 1~ We were so fortunate to wake up to a snow storm despite the mere 10% chance of it. It was so fun to look out the window and see beautiful fluffly snowflakes falling. We quickly threw on our warmest attire and headed out to play! Later that day, we took a trip to the mall and then to the ice skating rink.

Day 2~ We pretty much wore the kids out on Monday, so Tuesday was more of a lounge-around-the-house day. You know Jack is tired when he lays still for longer than 10 seconds! That night we went to watch Max play in his hockey game (Go Max!!), and the day came to a close with me dominating in a game of Texas Hold 'Em.

Day 3~ We spent much of day three at Brett and Kim's community center. Playing volleyball, cards, Wii, and of course, in the snow. The moms and daughters all went to see New Moon as well. That night the girls helped Teri make "Pluckin Bread", a tradition in her family.

Day 4~ Thanksgiving. More fun in the snow. Jack built, and subsequently destroyed, a mini snowman, we finally got him on the sled (which he did end up loving!), and the kids had more sledding fun. Dinner was fabulous! Thanks to Teri, Kim and Jacy.

Day 5~ We spent most of the day at Fox Run park. It was the perfect place for our huge family to hang out. There was volleyball, a playground, and a massive field of snow for building a snowman and having a snow ball fight (from which most of the kids ended up in tears!). That night was the adults night out. We went to a yummy hamburger joint, and after stopping by two theaters, only to find out the movie we wanted to see was sold out, ended up sipping hot chocolate and playing games at Pikes Perk coffee shop.

We had such a fabulous time, and are so grateful to have this amazing family. Several times a day, someone would mention the noticeable absence of our parents. We missed them tremendously, and it certainly wasn't the same without them there. But we know that they are doing the Lords work, and while they are gone we will continue to stay the close, strong, loving family that they raised us to be.

GNO's

Two very special nights out with some of my favorite girls!

Megan, Jacy and I had the amazing opportunity to go the SYTYCD tour stop here in Glendale. We made a day out of it; first shopping, then hanging at Jacy's and watching our favorite author on Oprah, then out to dinner before the show. An ENORMOUS thank you to my wonderful brother-in-law, Chris, for the tickets. And another HUGE thank you to my amazing husband for taking Jack to work with him, making it an entirely kid-free day!

Just 6 short days later, I went with 2 of my best gal-pals to see the midnight showing of New Moon! We had such a great time. Who would have thought sitting in a theater for 3 hours, waiting for a movie to start, would go by so fast??? We chatted away, ate LOTS of goodies and laughed endlessly at our juvenile obsession with this Twilight phenomenon!

Colorado Trip 09 Part I

Halloween Video

Halloween

Ward "Trunk or Treat"

Primary Presidency as Rodeo Clowns

Halloween Night

Of course our Halloween would not be complete without a visit to the Monkey House! Once again, Jack was the poor, unsuspecting child to completely freak out!

Phoenix College ACCAC Champions!

Clowns

Dakota had the opportunity twice to go to Fear Farm with her friend Willow (whose parents own the attraction) and "haunt" as super scary little clowns. She begged us for so long to do this and we finally gave in. I was a little nervous about it until I heard that 2 weeks ago when Dave picked Dakota up, police officers mistook him for a kidnapper. They saw a strange man walking away with what they thought was Willow, who they all know and watch like a hawk. Dave was completely clueless to the fact that they even noticed him, and had their guns drawn at his back, until they saw him again tonight and told him the story. Apparently Willow's dad saw them and rushed in to explain the misunderstanding. Ironic that the idea of guns pointed at the back of my husband's head actually made me feel better about the letting her go!

Happy Halloween!

Auntie Bree

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister, and a very awesome aunt!

We love you, Bree!!!

Funny...

Today my kids made me laugh. All three of them, each in their own unique way.

Dakota...
Somehow managed to get herself in quite a predicament in music class. Its a long story, one I won't bore you with. I will tell you that I told her she needed to try and deal with it herself by talking to her teacher personally. She was too timid to do that, so instead she opted to write her teacher a note. Here is how it goes...

"In your email it said that some people were having the same trouble as I, well I guess they all got in a group together. I wasn't there that day so I'm stuck alone. I've managed to skip or make myself excused from MUSIC. By today I was hoping you could let me talk to Mrs. Reyes about it. If you can't help me I understand, but then you won't find me at school Wednesday! Dakota"

I'm not allowed to tell you who this came from, but I trust you can figure it out!
Got a note from a boy in her class today. Here is how it goes...
Boy: "Will you kiss me? NO or YES"
Her response: "Mabey when I grow up!"
To which he responds: "On the playground when no body can see."
She asked him: "Why do you like as love me?"
I guess that question baffled him because that was the end of the exchange!

Jack...
I've posted before of my struggles to get him to nap. He plays for sometimes up to 3 hours in his room before either eventually falling asleep or me giving up on naptime when the girls get home and he hears them. Today I went to check on him, as I often do, to make sure he hasn't fallen asleep hanging from the blinds. He wasn't in his bed or anywhere on the floor, so I ran to my room hoping to find him asleep in my bed. Nope. I ran back to his room, a little panicky, and looked again. In the corner of my eye I saw red hair sticking out from behind the rocking chair. He had fallen asleep curled in a ball on the floor with his "Webkinz".

I should also mention that today Jack had his first outing in big boy underwear! He did well, no accidents, but I still don't completely trust him. He only didn't have one on in the first place because I didn't want to fight him on changing before we left the house :)

Outings

~Bailey~

~Taylor~
~Emma~
~Payson & Jack~
~Rian~
~Dakota~
While Jacy recovered from the birth of baby Kendall, Megan and I had a full and fun week with the rest of the kiddos! Dakota and Rian are out of school on Fall Break this week, which proved to be a blessing. They were very helpful on all of our little outings and loved to each be put in charge of one of the little ones.

Monday was a beautiful day outside so we decided to head to the pond and feed the ducks. The kids had a blast and I considered it a complete success, mostly because no one fell in the water!

Tuesday Megan and I took on a bigger, and much scarier, task of taking all 7 kids to the mall. A quick side note for effect...kids are ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9! After some time in the play area we went to the food court for lunch. On our way out we took a detour to the pet store to play with the puppies. We almost made it out the mall doors with no incidents until Jack swung his arm through the air and knocked over a kiosk jewelery display. One of the glass necklaces broke and I had my first "YOUR KID BREAKS IT, YOU BUY IT" experience! Luckily for me, it cost only $5.99, and is the perfect addition to Dakota's box of collected treasures.

Today we let the kids play while Jacy was at Kendall's first check-up and then decided to take a trip to Cabela's. Mine and Jacy's kids love that place, and Megan's girls have never been. It was really alot of fun, and the kids were all on their best behavior. Jack even managed to make it through the store without breaking anything! Afterwards we had to say goodbye to Megan, Emma and Taylor which is always hard. We wish they lived near us also!

Its been a busy few days, and although I am exhausted, I am looking forward to doing more fun things with my kids before they head back to school next week.

Dad

"The only thing better than having you for my dad,

is my children having you for a grandpa."

We love you dad/papa ~ have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Go Rian!

This past Saturday was Rian's first official competitive soccer match. She was super nervous before the game and had a serious case of the butterflies. As soon as it got started though, she got over her nerves and absolutely rocked it! Some of my favorite pictures from the game...

Student of the Month

We are so proud of Dakota. Every year since Kindergarten she has been chosen Student of the Month in either August or September. It doesn't take long for her teachers to see what a special and sweet girl she is!

I love to go have breakfast with my kids at school! It was spirit week and Friday happened to be crazy hat day, so Dakota wore the cowboy hat that Papa C. gave her. Isn't she cute?!If there's one thing that Dakota absolutely hates, its being in front of a big crowd. You can clearly see it on her face!
Her class was chosen to sing the National Anthem for the rally. While we were having breakfast her teacher came in to tell her to meet them on stage, and that they had saved her a seat in the front row. She was not thrilled.

Shout Out

Just want to direct everyone's attention to the Phoenix College stats to your left...

<<<------

I am so excited and proud of Dave and his team. They are currently undefeated, in first place and ranked 8th Nationally! They are playing beautiful soccer, it is absolutely amazing to watch. We have a tough away game against Pima on Saturday, but I have total confidence in them and I know they will go into the second half of the season with as much drive and passion as they have shown us so far.

GOOD LUCK, BEARS!!!

Scootin'

Jack is so happy to finally have a scooter like his big sisters. Now that the evenings are no longer unbearable, we can go outside and let the kids have some outdoor fun without the threat of heat stroke!

My Stars

Jack wore himself out, and because he had no nap this particular day, he completely crashed in Dave's arms. He slept on the ground for over an hour while children ran at full speed around his head and soccer balls flew past him, missing his nose by inches. Its so rare that I actually get to watch Dakota and Rian, so I took my chances. It was a beautiful thing!

Rian has finally come out of her shell. She loves soccer and plays so hard. She has great coaches, Hugo and Bree, who she adores. She is still a little nervous, not sure about what, but gives it her all anyhow! She is definitely the cutest little thing out there!

I can't say enough about Dakota. She continues to amaze me. If I can't have my girls in leotards and tutu's, this is how I want them! I am actually really looking forward to their future, and mine as well, as I get to watch and cheer them on!

Stuck

I would first like to thank the makers of this table, for creating the perfect spot to put my son when he needs some "Alone Time". Next, I'd like to thank my parents for giving us this table for Dakota's 7th birthday. Finally, I feel I must thank my very sweet and well-intentioned daughter, Rian, for introducing Jack to this new little hole, which I now like to call "Time Out!"

Abondonment

Most mornings I will let the girls bring Lucy with us on our walk to the bus stop. It actually is such a sad thing to watch. As the girls walk away from her, she stands there... watching them... crying. Eventually she will turn around and walk back toward the house with me, but not before letting everyone know just how devastated she is.

I must walk up and down my stairs at least a dozen times throughout the day while the girls are at school. Most of the time Lucy just watches me, but somehow she knows when I'm coming down because IT IS TIME! Her very favorite time of day- they're almost home! As soon as she sees me coming, she runs to the laundry room where her leash is and starts her whining again.

I guess it makes perfect sense. I try not to have anything to do with her all day, and Jack chases her around with whatever form of torture is in his closest reach. So it seems about right that she would want the two people who love her the most to be home with her! And they feel the same way, it is very sweet!