christmas lights with dad

Everything with dad is an adventure.  

While putting Christmas lights up this year Owen told Drake he could come up on the roof with him...obviously not asking my opinion.  And, we all know if you let one kid do it...they all want to do it.  So in typical blogging fashion, instead of freaking out (okay, I still might have a little), I grabbed the camera.

Then while helping the kids off the roof...Dax decided he wanted his turn and started climbing the ladder behind me.

Never a dull moment when Dad is home...

where was steve???

Owen got us GREAT tickets to the Suns Vs. Heat game, 5th row...I could never go back to the nosebleeds, it was AMAZING and SO much fun!!  I think Spellman Hardwoods Christmas gift just got a little better...

The bad news - Suns lost (surprised huh?) and Steve Nash wasn't there (must have heard I was coming...too nervous to play).

Good News - I caught a t-shirt, a little piece of Amare Stoudemire...AND I picked up some fancy new basketball moves...watch out girls, my game may never be the same again!!

thanksgiving...one of the best!!!

We had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving this year.  Lots of FABULOUS food, good company, more FABULOUS food, playing with cousins, good conversation, more FABULOUS food, fun games and...did I mention the food yet???

I think this was one of my favorite Thanksgivings...maybe it was the fact that I didn't have to cook ANYTHING (thanks Robyn!!!), or maybe its that it was just relaxing, or maybe because the kids were really well behaved, or maybe it was the fun games...whatever it was, it was GREAT!!! 

Cousins are the best aren't they??  They all had SO much fun together...thanks Sarah for all the great pics.  

What a FABULOUS day!!  Let's do it again next year!!

1st annual turkey trot

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition for the past 3 years has been running a 5K.  This year with budgets being a little tight for all, we decided to host our own.  We had our own sponsors, running numbers, charity, a celebrity runner, prizes and even a mascot...pretty official don't you think??

 our mascot

Me and Tara before the race...

Sorry Julia but this was my favorite picture...and since you won (well out of the important people anyway)...

Unfortunately my camera battery was dying (unheard of I know, a battery of mine dying?? I am usually so prepared)  So, I don't have too many pictures and thanks to the photographer, who skipped out on the race, many were blurry...slow down next time...

Anyway, the race was a blast.  I finished (Yea!!!), I didn't come in last (Yea!!), and I even found where I am going to build our next house when we make our millions...pretty successful!!

Now I just need to keep running in preparation for the RUN FOR NIE 10K in January...yea...I might just run the 5 again...

tough boys like pink

While tying tutus (a whole other post...) over at Tara's house, Dax was getting very fussy.  Tara brought over the swing to try and put him in.  I told her I had gotten rid of ours because he hated being constrained in it, he liked his freedom, and the fact that he is huge, I was afraid it would break...but I gave it a try.  He was in heaven...all smiles.  He snuggled right into the pink seat and...

crashed.

Now I just wish I had a picture of Ava in her swing...the monster and the little sweet pea...

thanksgiving picnic

We had a fun joining Taryn and friends for their annual Thanksgiving picnic at school.  

Hadyn asks daily when she gets to go to school again...she is always the center of attention and all of Taryn's friends dote over her, what's not to love???  One day she realize school isn't all parties and treats...

part of the crazy club

Yes, I was one of those crazy people who went to the midnight showing of "twilight"...were you?

So, I wasn't going to go because I NEVER stay up that late.  But, then I decided I should go just for that reason.  Who cares that I had to volunteer the next morning, then go to a charity luncheon, then babysit and then go to Drake's last football game...

No regrets here, it was a blast.  I think we annoyed most the people around us (and some of the people with us) with all our picture taking and shenanigans...what else do you do for 2 hours sitting in a movie theatre before the movie even starts???

Here is a small sampling of the pre-movie fun!!  Next time we will move the pre-party to my house!!

I dragged my mom along...thanks for the treats!!  I wasn't very prepared...next time.

This picture pretty much sums up most of the night...Julia was obviously thrilled to be with us...enough said about that...

And thank you Bree for your fabulously entertaining speech/letter...I will forward you the video when I have a minute

And THANK YOU to our new friend Anthony.  He was SO kind to find and hold up a Twilight poster for me and Tara to have our picture taken with...we will forever be in your debt and I am now a lifelong customer of Harkins...for truly customer service is #1!!!!!!!

Oh yea, we watched the movie too.  I REALLY liked it.  Yes, there were some cheesy parts...but overall I thought it was great!!!  Now I want to go read the books again...and get a Twilight shirt so I can be cool too : ) 

more hot dogs and cake

We celebrated again that evening with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Fellow.  I always let the kids pick their meals...so big surprise, it was hot dogs again...

I love watching kids this age open gifts.  They are always so excited and expressive...and of course Hadyn was over the top...it was hilarious.  I can't wait until Christmas!!

Hadyn Ariel dolls and a dress...but the evening couldn't be complete with out our traditional treasure hunt...

Hady-boo look in mommy's shoe

Hady-boo find the chair that is blue

Hady-boo find the cow that is blue (yea that one was a stretch...)

Hady-boo you'll find your treasure where the laundry goes too

Happy 3rd Birthday Hadyn!!!

a "pinkalicious" party

Sunday evening I decided I should have a little party for Hadyn on her birthday so she felt special...my goal in life to make my kids feel special.  Since I was planning this WAY last minute and I had bought this book for her birthday I decided a "Pinkalicious" party would be the perfect thing for my little 3 year old terror...I mean princess.

I asked each girl to wear pink and we had ALL kinds of pink decorations, pink foods, and pink crafts...pink EVERYTHING.

The girls colored pictures from the book with all different colors of pink crayons...

Then we made pink beaded necklaces...which everyone quickly got bored of, except my Hadyn

Then we ate, pink hot dogs, pink chocolate popcorn, bagels with pink cream cheese, pink fruit loops, and of course pink lemonade

Then we made pink wands and played freeze dance to the girls favorite song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas"  They were quite the dancers...I think we have Tara to thank for that.

And FINALLY we had pink cupcakes with pink icing...and Hadyn had her third (everytime I turned around she had another)

My pink princesses were all FABULOUS, and we all had so much fun.  Thanks so much for coming on such short notice!!

And if you haven't read "Pinkalicious"...pick it up for your pink princess.  Thanks Julia for the reccomendation!!!

terrific 3s!!! right?????

My precious baby girl has grown so fast...

1 day

She was born with so much personality...and every day it just keeps coming...

1 year

She has the sweetest disposition that can turn to pure terror and back again in a matter of seconds...

2 years

and now that she is three she will be an angel everyday...right?????

3 years

It used to drive me crazy when people would tell me the years fly by...enjoy every moment...and now I find myself saying the same thing.  Where does the time go??  I guess it hits me most as my kids get older.  

Hadyn has always been my drama queen, girly girl, who knows how to get what she wants...and when she doesn't...you will pay...everyone within 5 miles will pay.  She is a very extreme and stubborn child.  She will LOVE you with every once of energy she has...and then she can be mad at you with that same amount of energy.  You just have to savor those good moments to get through the bad.  

She has quite the imagination.  She has all kinds of scenarios going when she plays and understanding them all is sometimes beyond me.  I will try and play with her and after being told no over and over, I have now just learned to do as I am told, I guess the things I make up just aren't creative enough...

Hadyn also remembers pretty much everything...if you promise her something one day you better follow through on that promise...she WILL call you on it.  Just the other day when "It's a small world" came on the radio her eyes lit up and she quickly recounted our trip to Disneyland (1 year ago) she remembered the lines and everything...I was amazed.

She is VERY observant.  She remembers stores and has her own little names for them (especially the one's she likes) Her favorites the crabby patty store (Circle K) and the big numbers store (Gap).  This one took me forever to figure out.  She would talk about it and talk about it for weeks and I never knew what she meant...until one day when we finally went back...the big numbers are on the dressing room doors, she LOVES to shop and loves to try on everything...what have I done???

Hadyn is also obsessive about certain things and they can change daily, weekly, or never.  She LOVES dresses and when she has a dress she loves she HAS to wear it everyday.  If I am lucky enough to talk her out of wearing it to bed she HAS to hold it to go to sleep.  She has ruined one too many cute dresses.  She also has her movie/toy obsessions.  She loves Cars the movie and carried Lightening McQueen around with her everywhere for weeks.  Then it turned to the "king" she now takes him everywhere.  She also loves her polly pocket Disney Princess dolls, her dress up clothes and pajamas.  We can never leave home without all of them usually.  Hadyn also loves Hot Dogs and Macaroni and Cheese so much that I have had to stop buying them so that she wouldn't cry to eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  The will of a 3 year old.

Hadyn also LOVES to dance, sing and just perform.  She is in her own little world a lot.  She will be belting out songs in the middle of the store hitting notes I couldn't even touch.  She has always been our most musical child.  She has always done things to the beat.  When potty training her...or I guess retraining her I was trying to come up with something that would make her care to poop in the potty.  I found a pink guitar one day at the store and she LOVED it.  It worked (for a while) and she rocked out with that guitar...our little American Idol.

Hadyn is one in a million.  I can't imagine my life without her.  It would be so boring...I am so grateful to have her in our family.  I love you my Hady-boo.  Happy Birthday!!!

forgetting

We all forget things.  We forget to do things, or we forget to buy things a the store, or we forget what we were doing, or we forget something somewhere, or we forget where we left something.  We all do it.  But there are just some things that are very IMPORTANT and that you shouldn't forget like anniversaries or birthdays.  There are ALSO some IMPORTANT things that you shouldn't forget to tell the IMPORTANT people in your life...like your wife for example.

So, we are in the car.  Owen is driving and I am opening the mail.  I opened an envelope and pulled out a stack of papers which had this letter on the top;

I read "Congratulations on the purchase of your new home!"  Hmmm...I double check who it was addressed to and then turn to Owen, who is oblivious to what I opened or what was going on, and I ask him "Did you buy a house?"  He looks at me for a second, a little caught of guard, and says laughing "Oh yea, I forgot to tell you."

You forgot to tell me??  Is there anything else that you maybe forgot to tell me like you have another family, or maybe a girlfriend? Or that you are moving out? These questions are why it is IMPORTANT to NOT forget to share important information with the ones you love.  Let us all learn from Owen's mistake...

And now I guess you all know...no, Owen isn't perfect...almost, but not perfect.

Explanation:

No, we are not moving.  It was a business deal.

And, in Owen's defense...we had talked about this a few months ago but nothing came of it then so I didn't realize it was still happening.

  

touchdown

Drake made a touchdown tonight at his football game.  

After the game his coach came up to us to share this story:  He said that Drake turned to him after running a play into the end zone and asked "where is my flag?"  His coach told him "they didn't get your flag, you got a touchdown!" He said Drake's face just lit up, he was all smiles, he then clenched his fist and said "yes!!!"

Achievment...isn't is grand???

everyone can use a good deal

So, after the field trip yesterday I decided to try this new food club that a friend of mine told me about.  It is part of the Westside Food Bank, but ANYONE can go.  They don't check id or income or anything and there is nothing to join.  It is just south of Bell Rd. at Dysart and Elm Street.  You turn into the food bank and pull around to the blue and white shed.  Yes, a little sketchy sounding, but it is all ligit.  Even the women from the DOC are ligit...and all very nice.  At the shed you pick your box you want to purchase.  I picked the meat lovers which comes with two different boxes of meat and then it says it comes with 2 bonus boxes and a few other things that I didn't catch.  After paying (debit, cash or check only) you pull over to wait for your food to come out.  They bring it right to your car and you load up and drive away.  Super easy, I didn't have to get my kids out of the car, took no more then 7 minutes total. 

So this is what I got...not including the meat

 

Here is the meat...about 11lbs total with chicken, ground beef, pork, steak, and pork ribs...

This is what came in the two bonus boxes: loaves of bread, hot dog and hamburger buns, saltine crackers, keebler cookies, air freshner, cheese, pumpkin cheescake, gatorade, soda, chocolate cake, and lighted halloween decorations.

I also got a third box FULL of fruit and vegtables...many organic with Trader Joe's labels.   Apples, pears, tomatoes, cantelope, cabbage, potatoes, green peppers, yams, and yellow squash filled this box. 

Oh yea...I paid $35 for all it...a pretty good deal???

tolmachoff farms

We (Hadyn, Dax and I) tagged along on Drake's FIRST big field trip.  We went to Tolmachoff Farms in the west valley, it was no Shnepf's farm but it was fun for a few hours.  I actually learned a few things...guess I should go back to kindergarten.

We started in the corn maze and learned about corn and all the things it is used for...actually very interesting.  My favorite thing I learned is that corn can actually pop on the ear...yes, it does get that hot in AZ.

Then we headed to the fields to pick vegetables...we picked cucumbers, zucchini, radishes, cilantro, onions, and parsley...I felt like I was at Ashley's house...

I learned that cucumbers are a fruit...anything with seeds is a fruit, which I guess I new but never really thought about.

As I was picking radishes our guide said "um, there is a baby wandering away" I turned around (knowing that I was the only crazy one to bring two kids) and Hadyn had decided to leave, she wasn't too far...see the little speck there...yea...now rethinking why I brought two little kids with me to the farm.  Especially now, since I was carrying Dax and 3 bags of vegtables trying to chase down Hadyn...fun...

But, it got better...before lunch the kids went on a fun train ride...they were sooooo cute, I just love these kids...Hadyn loves tagging along and being one of the big kids and Drake is always SO good with her.

Then, we fed the animals...

Mrs. Miller and the class

A fabulous field trip!!!  Can't wait for the next one...and to go home and eat my yummy vegtables...