Snow Day!

We spent a few well-deserved days off in Prescott before Christmas. It was snowy and cold and absolutely beautiful. Hayden and Chloe (and dad) had a great time sledding and playing in the snow. Ellie is absent from these pictures because the little angel refused to wear the snow pants. She sat in the house crying and watching us rather than just putting. on. the. stupid. pants. She is stubborn beyond belief.

Bob the snowman on the back porch. Grandpa says he's still there, although he looks like he is suffering from a terrible disease, and is about to expire.

Guess who is about to be hit with a snowball?

How Cool is He?

Imagine if you were an eight or four year old boy, and you had the world's coolest older cousin. He plays football, he runs, he does flips AND he happily plays with the little guys. How cool is that? Chauncey, you are adored- by your little cousins and their mothers. (and fathers)

Billy Boy is 4!!!

I have been quite the blog slacker lately, but it has been crazy-busy this month. Here I am, catching up! I finally have a reason to have a post of ALL BILLY pictures! I tend to gravitate towards him with my camera because, well, just look at that face! So, for his birthday post, it is all Billy, all the time.

Here he is, opening his "cowboy clothes". He's taking after his namesake Grandpa.

Little and fast- future baseball hall of famer.

Or maybe football?

The boys played football in the yard for quite awhile. Its what you do when you have a football star in the family, and one who doesn't mind being attacked by his adoring cousins.

Again, just look at that face! I can't resist it!

And he is this many. Happy Birthday, Billy boy, and we love you to pieces.

I am Thankful for . . .

. . . Ellie being happy most of the time, and that she and I get to spend everyday together while the big kids are at school. . . . sweet girls that get along and like to play together, and enjoy sharing a room.

. . .Billy, who is as cute as can be, and is always smiling, even when he's upset. Its amazing.

. . . Squishy and her huggaliciousness (I just made that word up, but it fits her to a T.) She's also always smiling- even when she's doing something she's not supposed to be doing. I could squeeze her all day.

. . . having three wonderful kids who are well-behaved (mostly), sweet (mostly), fun to be with (mostly), and most importantly, happy and healthy.

. . . Grandma and Grandpa having a condo in CA so we can spend Thanksgiving at the beach. And 4th of July. And spring Break. We love it there.

. . . that we can relax when needed. And that Hayden has a sense of humor.

. . . sweet Emily. I love that girl. She and Chloe have so much fun together, and I'm glad the cousins get to spend lots of time together.

. . . Chloe's teacher, who has helped Chloe emerge from her shyness shell, and thrive in Kindergarten. She loves school, another thing for which I am thankful.

. . . For Hayden and Chloe's school, and that they do lots of "programs" for the kids.

I'm thankful for our family that we don't get to see as often, and that our kids can be close to Nana and Papa even though they are not geographically close. I'm thankful that AC has a good job, that we can pay our bills, and that I am able to stay at home with our kids. I'm also thankful for our health, our love and our blessings!

Legoland fun!

Part of the Weekend-O'-Fun for Thanksgiving was a trip to Legoland. Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids passes to Legoland this year, and we have had a good time getting the most out of them.

The 6 kids had a blast together, and were very well-behaved. It was also nice having 4 adults to help with the multi-age aspects. Everyone got to do everything they wanted- what could be better than that?

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! The kids love going to Legoland, and I know it was worth it to get all 10 of us out of the house at once!

Boo!

Boba Fett, Fancy Nancy and Cinderella/Barbie princess had a great Halloween! My favorite part of this holiday is the Storybook Parade at their school. Chloe was so excited because her very sweet friend Madison was the EXACT same Fancy Nancy and brought the EXACT same book. If that happens at Senior Prom we'll have an issue- in Kindergarten its awesome. Ellie got into the act this year and dressed up as well. She was going to be Dora, but the freakishly cool weather made her change her mind. She proudly held up her Cinderella book as the big kids walked by. Hayden was part of the 2nd grade Star Wars contingent- complete with 3 clone troopers, a couple of Darth Vaders and Boba's very own "son", Jango.

Halloween night was a lot of fun, too. Ellie made a costume change to Barbie Princess. Since our neighborhood is no fun on Halloween, we have to invite ourselves over to friends/family every year to trick or treat. This year we were with our good friends the Meyers. Max is in Hayden's class, and Maddie is on Chloe's soccer team. Not only do they live in a neighborhood with houses that are close together, they live in a generous neighborhood! The kids made out like bandits. One house even gave out Bug Catcher toys. Very nice. The moms sat out front drinking wine and handing out candy while the dad took the troops around the 'hood. Now that's my idea of a fun Halloween. The night ended with Chloe getting a fever, but at least she was smart enough to wait until after trick-or-treating to tell me.Now we are dealing with the post Halloween sugar rush. The kids got so much candy this year that I've been buying it off of them for 5 cents per peice, so they don't eat themselves sick. I'm personally glad Halloween is over- I spent all week planning the kids' parties at school, all day Friday AT the kids' parties at school, and all day Sunday saying, "No, you may not have another piece yet." Boo-humbug.

Morgan's 12th Birthday!

Our cousin Morgan flew in from Colorado and we had a 12th birthday party for her last night. She is so sweet and we all had so much fun. Uncle John has lots of dirt and rock piles in their backyard, so the little ones were thrilled- Billy went to town in the rock pile. Abi was so excited by the amount of food, and especially by the cake plates that were leftover for her to scavange. Can we say ,"Spalding!"

Of course, no birthday party would be complete without cake in the face. Even cake covered, she's the cutest, sweetest 12 year old girl ever.

Time for Soccer!

Saturdays are now officially soccer-filled. Hayden is on the Yellow Bombers, and Chloe the Green Clovers. We are in week 3, and Hayden's team is pretty darn good and 2-0, while Chloe's team is, well, lets just be thankful they don't keep score for her age group. AC is her coach again, and he has quite the young group.

Hayden is really good this year, if I do say so myself. He scored his first ever goal last week in a breakaway that ended with the goalie on the ground crying and Hayden kicking it in for the point. Good sportsmanship? Maybe not. Goal? Definitely. He really likes to play defense, and honestly, Hayden stops just about anyone heading towards the goal. That's why I love the second picture- Hayden's standing still stopping the ball while everyone else is moving forward. ACs really excited that Hayden likes a position that is usually unpopular. Most kids like scoring- hayden likes stopping.
Chloe started out kind of rough- she decided about 2 minutes into the 2nd practice that she didn't like soccer and wasn't going to play. AC wishes she would have decided that before he signed on to be her coach again. The first picture is from her first game. She'd only be on the field if she was holding Dad's hand.
Suprise! Here she is in game #2, and she decided that soccer is okay after all, and, okay she'll just jump right in there and even (kinda) score her first goal. (it bounced off of her foot and into the goal- my book, that equals goal). I don't know what goes on in her little brain, but fingers crossed that she keeps thinking positive thoughts regarding soccer.

And yes, I did make those hair bows. I guess that makes me a super-soccer mom.

CA Fun

What do you do when your kids have 2 days off from school? Pull them out for a third and head to CA! I picked up H and C from school an hour early and we headed out straight from there. I had to drive into the sun a bit, but it wasn't too bad. And all three kids fell asleep around 8:30, so I had an hour of peace and quiet. It was none too soon, because Chloe talked or sang from the moment I picked her up from school, until she said "I'm tired" around 8:15. I didn't know anyone's vocal cords could last that long. I love her little voice and all, but sheesh- my ears were buzzing.
First stop: the beach. Grandma and Aunt Pam were there finishing off their girls' week. Nothing like crashing the party! It was nice spending time with Aunt Pam. The kids adore her, and were talking at her the entire time!


Chloe was having a little trouble with sand in her pants this time. They were having a heat wave over there, so the water was actually warm enough that all three kids went in. I didn't go in, but nothing new in that.

We ended up buying an annual pass to Legoland, and went on Saturday afternoon and all day Monday. The kids had a blast, it wasn't too crowded, and I only took about 4 pictures. This one's cute- Ellie was not sure of the Ogre on the storybook ride, so big Brother wrapped his arm around her and pointed out all of the fun stuff. Awwww. Don't worry, it didn't last. Five minutes later he was calling her "butthead" then getting charged $1 for the ugly word.

I wish I could say Ellie was sweet as could be the whole time, but she wasn't. We had an unintentional run-in with Annatto, and she had the fits to prove it. It was u-g-l-y. Poor girl. Now we are home and back to our routine, and looking forward to heading back in November!

Emi's 6!!!

Emi had a wonderful birthday party on Sunday. The waterslide was huge and the kids had a blast, except Ellie who slid down on her face the first time and decided she wasn't fly with the slide. Chloe and Emi slid down together many, many times. At one time we had 5 or 6 kids at once.

The other great part were the snowcones. I think Billy had 3. Maybe 4. Notice the snow cone juice down his belly. That's enjoyment.

At one point the breaker blew and the slide started to deflate. In order to save the water in the pool part (and save Travis' yard from another flooding) the kids grabbed on and held it together. That's teamwork. They were so cute and intent on the job- they barely lost a drop.

We all loved the twinkie/ding dong/rice krispy treat cake. So cute and fun, and, I must admit, delicious. Twinkies are good. Ding Dongs are good. Rice Krispies- good. The other food was delicious as well, and Natalie outdid herself (as always) on the food and decor. We were truly under the sea.

And how sweet is that girl? Six? I can't believe it. Happy Birthday, sweet Emily! We love you!