This is what happens when the tired little ballerina lets her temper get the best of her...and Mommy forgot about her for a little too long...zzzzzzzz

(SORRY, punkin) 

Then later that night....Here are the little chefs helping Mom make dinner....

They love wearing their little aprons and hats and then serving dinner when it's ready!

Crazy dino-boy loves to tackle and wrestle with his sisters...I keep telling the girls to watch out, 'cause he's gonna overpower them by like next year!  

Snap, Crackle, and Pop bouncing off the walls at bedtime!

Our Very Merry October!

October, a very merry, busy, crazy, fun-filled, walk-til-you-drop month to remember!

(*more pics to come when I get copies from halloween)

The annual Firefighters Carnival put on by our fabulous San Marcos firefighters!

They had so many fun, educational activities for the kids to do...

We waited in line for 15 minutes so Owen could have a turn spraying the fire hose at the pretend building on fire... 

He really enjoyed it! (if you can't see, he cried like a sissy when they turned the water on.  Was it loud? Kinda looks like the firefighter might've bit his finger! Nah, that's just what our kid does when he gets scared) 

Now THIS firefighter here forced Avery to save his dummy friend (jk--he's our friend Frank Reade)!  Avery was pretty stoked to be able to "bag" this guy and save his life!

 

Owen kept running to the front of the line to "stop, drop and roll" through these flames!  It was hysterical watching him practically steam-roll the other kids to have his turn again!  Somebody teach this boy some manners.

Avery also loved trying to escape the flames in a  hurry!  Pretty tough to do in a mini-skirt...Between the two, we got a lot of laughs from the firefighters...

The girls were excited to meet Sparky, the fire dog (I'm sure his fur is completely fire-retardant)!...Once again, Owen the scaredy-boy runs for his life!

We learned there's a difference between a fire truck and the smaller fire engines.  This is the only fire truck in San Marcos.

Owen was so funny--after having a melt-down and we all got ready to go, he calmly walked over and posed until we took his picture with the fire truck...

Of course he was all about driving the off-limits

 little service cart!

We also spent a day at the Wild Animal Park...

Owen was not so cool with the birds landing on everyone and getting so close...I don't blame you, kid...I had several land on my head without permission and I was sure I would have poopy (not to mention sweaty) hair for the day!  Next time we'll let Daddy take the girls in the aviary and we'll go eat a frozen lemonade!  

Madie stopping to rest in some shade...It was about 90 degrees that day, and there's quite a bit of uphill walking throughout the HUGE park!

The kids had more fun taking a shower in this "spray ground" (more like a raining-cats-and-dogs ground) than they did seeing the wild animals...lesson learned--best to go to the WAP in the COOLER winter months.

We had to drain Owen's shoes and strip him down after this.  And of course Avery (who surprised us all and got pretty wet in her clothes) would not even wear her shoes after this.  Madie, as always, was a trooper and LOVED giving us soggy hugs!

Owen's little monkey backpack/leash (a MUST-have at venues like these) got a little too heavy for him to carry--probably weighed 10 lbs soaking wet.

Our cute little vagabond baby (after soaking two outfits)

Our funny little monkey Avery giggled as she ran away from the water...

Madie and Daddy sat out for this sprayground...That's Marcus with the park map over his face trying to catch a nap...

Let's go home...

And get ready for our ward Trunk-or-Treat at he church! (sighhhhhhh)

This is Owen after a VERY busy day!  He was ready for some R&R and a little foot massage...Pretty much sums up how I felt too!  We had A LOT of fun though.  

Later in the month, the kids got to go pick out some pumpkins at this really quaint little undiscovered pumpkin patch that we happened upon...in the WalMart parking lot!  We'd been so busy that we almost forgot to even get pumpkins this year, so don't mock me for choosing the most generic place on Earth (and my most despised retail location) to create our Halloween memories!

These pics were taken with an iphone at sunset, so they aren't the best, but at least I got some (even if I had to YELL at my kids mid-pumpkin picking to get them to stand still)

Owen was waiting for the little scarecrow to talk back to him.  He kept looking at him, saying something in "Owenese", laughing, and then bending down to see if the little man would respond.  

Notice the girls are still

 dressed in their summer clothes in late October...It's been a little warm here to say the very least.

I love these lil' punkins! 

We got to take all the kids to the Happiest Place on Earth!  It was so fun to see the kids having the time of their lives here at Disneyland.  And we got to go absolutely FREE--thanks to Nancy, a friend from Marcus' work, and her daughter!  Even though we live an hour away, we haven't been in like 2 yrs.!  So Avery doesn't remember ever going and Owen's never been.  We LOVED the Monsters Inc. ride at California Adventure and Owen was thrilled to go Bug's Land.  Avery got tricked into riding the white water rapids by her mom who told her "um, you might get a little bit sprinkled on..." (shoulda known how that one was gonna turn out).  She started screaming--like MAD--the first time she got wet...then it didn't help that some kid on our boat kept telling her "oh, no, watch out, you're gonna get soaked right here!"...and didn't stop until we got off the ride....she's not too fond of getting wet in her clothes.  But she does love big rides so I thought I was safe...lesson learned.  While we were looking for another ride to go on, we literally BUMPED into our friends the Hazens!  We thought that was fun to see them there too--on a school day!   

After a few rides, we headed over to Disneyland, where we met up with our good friends the Toomers.  They met us up there after school.  The kids were sooooo excited--not only did we get to go Disneyland, but we got to go with FRIENDS!  Now as I mentioned before, Avery LOVES big roller coasters--the faster and steeper the better--so does Madison.  So Marcus and I  had lots of fun taking turns riding with the girls (and thanks to the new parents pass--where the parent who had to wait with the toddler can walk right on when the family comes back with, and take a kid or 2--we didn't have a lot of waiting time).  Everyones' favorites:  Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain,  The Matterhorn, Owen loved Peter Pan (he better...that was the longest wait of the day!) and he was pretty PUMPED about the animals on Jungle Cruise, the girls adored the California Adventure parade (Awesome), and of course were thrilled to meet a few of their Disney heroes.  I was devastated to learn that they got rid of Bear Country Jamboree!  That was a family favorite growing up--we would go inside and watch the cute show when we were hot and tired...but, my kids will never get to experience that.   Again, I only have a few pics for now which we took on Marcus' iphone (more to come soon--I have to get them from Nicole).

Marcus, Avery, Madie, Jacey, Nicole, and Logan on Space Mountain

When it was our turn to meet Cinderella and take a picture, Madie got all embarassed and Avery was just star-struck!

INTRODUCING...THE NEW AVERY!

Little Avery got glasses this week!  She was soooo excited, counting down the days until we could pick them up!  We went to 3 different places looking for some that she liked and she picked these CUTE red ones out herself.  The first question everyone asks me when they see her wearing her new glasses is "How did you know?"  "Was she telling you that she couldn't see?"  No, she never said a word about it.  But I noticed a few weeks ago that when she was trying to focus (it was most obvious to me looking in my rear-view mirror as she would watch movies in the car on longer drives), her left eye would wander to the center, and then I saw her blinking and rubbing it to try and compensate for her inability to focus...So, off to the optometrist we went (her Uncle Eric IS an optometrist, but they live in Moorpark and, sorry Eric, that's just a LITTLE too far to drive for regular check-ups).  Sure enough, the doctor confirmed that her left eye was substantially  weaker than her right, which was making it nearly impossible to focus the eyes together, so her brain would basically shut off her left eye and then it would stray toward her nose...Which I THINK is one reason she has been able to make her silly cross-eyed face since she was like 2 yrs. old!   

Here is a picture of what she looked like BEFORE--she was sure that NOBODY would recognize her now that she wears these glamorous specs!

INTRODUCING...AVERY WITH GLASSES (for those of you who couldn't tell who this is)!

You really can't tell in either picture because I tinted them, but her glasses are red with little funky stripes by her temples.  Totally fit her spunky personality!

She has not put this cute little carrying case down ALL week (That's not to say she hasn't lost her glasses at least 10 times already).  But she loves having another "purse"--we call her our little bag lady, she will carry 3-4 different purses, baskets, lunch boxes on her arm at any given time.  

I'm so glad we caught this when we did, so, if she wears her glasses everyday, we can hopefully restore some strength back to her left eye. 

Love you cute little Avery!  I hope you can see now!

Even a 7-year-old knows it's not right...

The other day our little Madison was asking me why we had a Prop 8 sign on our lawn and what exactly were we voting on...So, after explaining that not everyone shared our view of the sacredness of marriage, and then having to chip away at part of her young innocence and tell her about same-sex marriage (at age 7!!), three things happened: 1) she started laughing uncontrollably, 2) she got very concerned and frightened and said, "but Mom, I don't WANT to marry a girl!  Are 'they' going to MAKE me?", 3) she revealed her logical-to-a-seven-year-old observation..."so if a dad marries a dad, they can't have any babies, and if a mom marries a mom, they would have TOO MANY BABIES!"  Seven-year-olds are so smart...that's why marriage is for a man and a woman only.  Let's PRAY that our Prop 8 passes so our children don't become even MORE confused!!!!  And let's get out there and inform our neighbors of the consequences to our rights and our children if it fails...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BABY GIRL!

Our little Madie doesn't look like this anymore--my baby turned 7!  She's still as cute as ever, just much more grown up...This post is 2 weeks late...but so goes my life...

We've been so extremely blessed to have such a loving, compassionate, fun, helpful little girl who always seeks to do what's right. She genuinely cares about other people and is always looking out for what is good for everyone.  Even on her birthday when I kidnapped her from school early and took her shopping, she had her heart set on surprising her little sister Avery with something. So she picked out a little toy for Avery to match hers, and was SOOOOO excited to see her sister's reaction.  We had a lot of fun--just Madie and Mom...She was so thrilled that I surprised her and wanted to spend time with her alone, i don't think she even cared what we did.  I love that girl--she's never greedy about presents and it was so cute how she kept giggling and saying how much fun it was to be out together (it made me realize how much my kids value one on one time with their parents)!  Madie has such a great attitude and is so willing to try new things and include new people.  She loves ethnic food and seafood and all kinds of healthy vegetables.  

Madie LOVES...

-playing Barbies with Avery 

-practicing cartwheels

-playing soccer with her dad

-going on hikes with her dad

-reading good books like Junie B. Jones, Charlie and the  Chocolate Factory, American Girl books

-leading us giving lessons in Family Home Evening

-FHE treats

-going out to eat with her family

-making her baby brother giggle

-swimming

-playing with her MANY cousins

-sleeping over at Grandma & Grandpa's

-taking walks or going shopping with Papa

-SHRIMP!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY , MADIE LOU....WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Caribbean Cruise (I HIGHLY recommend it)!

Here is just a preview of our FABULOUS cruise to the Eastern Caribbean with our FABULOUS friends Corey and Nicole Toomer, and Uale (he really isn't a grouchy person, just likes to be a pain in the butt for pictures) and Lee Taotafa...

the men BEFORE they got sunburned.

their beautiful wives 

(the only ones on the ship NOT willing to flash their ta-tas to our skinny guide)

This is the day we went on a big pirate ship to snorkel in Turtle Cove in St. Thomas.  FUN memories (and some scary visuals of fat drunk ladies showing their big boobies)!  Thanks for such an AWESOME trip boys!  I'll post more pics when we get them all uploaded...

Living in the moment and...I'm just a pansy!

So I've been on the verge of feeling sorry for myself recently with my husband being gone so much for business and what not, but just as I'm starting to give in to the "poor me" thoughts, I am brought back to the reality that I am very blessed!  I've been thinking about how I've just been "getting by" and trying to "manage" my household...but that's not what I want to see when I look back on my life.  I want to know that I've laughed with my kids and hugged them just because, and taught them about being a follower of Christ.  I don't know why I've been so painfully aware that my children are growing up and I CAN'T STOP THEM!  I love the story that our sweet prophet shared yesterday in Conference (his talk really hit home and I thought it was crazy that he was speaking of something that's been on my mind so much lately)...The father of two children promised to take them to the circus and when he recieved an urgent call from work asking him to come right away, he answered "no, I will not be coming."  His wife reminded him that "the circus will be back again you know"...To which he responded, "Yes, but childhood will not".  Too often i think I'm in the "get it done" mode and I hurry through things and only half pay attention to what my kids are doing or saying.  And it is them (my playful kids) who have to remind me to stop and play a little and bring me back into the moment.  Anyway, I am working on enjoying and living in the moment with my children and counting my blessings.  Sometimes I wonder "why me?"  Why am I so blessed with sooooo much--3 beautiful, healthy kids, a wonderful husband who works so hard and is the best Daddy, great family (on both sides) who live close by, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a safe home to sleep in every night, not ever wondering IF I can feed my kids, and soooooo much more.  I guess I'm just kind of a pansy--I think Heavenly Father didn't send me to a 3rd world country because He knew I wouldn't last--I murmur when I'm alone all week and can't listen to another child whine the word "MOM!"  I moan when my dishwasher is not functioning!  The thought of watching my child starve to death would kill me...Or hiding out from evil men who rape women and children--I don't know HOW those women endure such things and raise their children in places like that.  OK, so this turned really depressing, SORRY!  Didn't mean to go in that direction...I'm just really grateful for my life...