Happenings...

I have some very proud mommy and daddy news... Maddy made Principal's List. We are so totally proud of her! This is the first time she was able to qualify for it (you start in 4th grade) not only was she the only one in her class but she was only 1 of 4 other students to get it. That really made us proud. Our school is small about 170ish kids but that is amazing to me. So again we are really proud of her!!

We also had my cousin's wedding on 11/23, it was wonderful! I had the honor of taking the pics! Yep she was crazy to ask me! I always swore I would never shoot a wedding, well now I can say did that " ) We are so happy for them! It was a great time and a beautiful ceremony! Oh the food was way yummy too!!

Hope everyone's Turkey day was great and filled with yummy foods. Ours was! Shawn and Wyatt went Pig hunting over Thanksgiving and didn't even see a pig but they got to fish. I swear my son was born in the wrong time...he lives and breathes hunting and fishing, I think even more then his dad does!!! Right now it's duck season and every morning he gets up and says can I go duck hunting today??? He gets so made when I tell him no he has to go to school. Keep in mind he doesn't even shoot! He just flat loves it!!

Well this one is a short and sweet one! Hope everyone has a great time!!

TWILIGHT

So went to see Twilight last night... it was really good if you read the book. I don't know how much I would've liked it if I didn't know the back story on the characters. The picture is from left to right Rebecca, Andrea, Valerie, Dawn, Deanna, Alison, Jessica, Sarah, Me, and Wendy. All but 4 our the teachers from the kids school. I will post more pics later, Rebecca took tons so we could scrap them. And there is a great story behind it all... We got our tickets when they first were available but we did something more...we paid to have a birthday party there. Basically you pay a little more and you have to have at least 8 people. We did this for Maddy's party and it was great. You get in 45 minutes before the movie and you get a little popcorn tray with a drink. Well that almost started a riot!! We got there at 6:30ish and the movie started at 7:30. There was a huge long line to get in and the first probably 10 people had been waiting 3 hours to see the movie, yes you read right they had been waiting in line for 3 hours. Needless to say they were not happy with us when we came strolling up and walked right in. We told the staff they had to be our body guards cuz we were going to get stuff thrown at us. Nothing happened but it made for a great story!!! The really funny thing was when everyone got to come in it was like Christmas morning, they were running everywhere and lots and lots of giggles! Throughout the whole show there were lots of giggles. Just really showed how young the crowd was. We weren't the only ones to dress for the night, there were lots of homemade shirts and ones that were purchased. It was crazy. I have never seen anything like the fans for Twilight, and yep I am one of them " ) Stephanie Meyer even did a cameo, just like Stephen King and M. Night Shyamalan, didn't speak but you saw her. So when I get more pics from Rebecca I will post them.

Since we read last...

Hi all! I know I am really not doing this as often as I should but "it's all good" So what has been going on in the past month, the better question is what haven't we been doing!!! I think things are finally slowing down a bit for me and my family. Well at least for a week or so " ) Since last time we had Maddy's 9th party, we went to see High School Musical 3 and it was AWESOME!! Ok yep you guessed it I am a total fan!! Not gonna lie. I love musicals and this is a really great one! After the movie I took Maddy, Wyatt and Lidia to a Pumpkin Patch in Citrus Heights. It's a cute little one with lots of things to do. We spent the entire afternoon there, I was tired!! When we got home the kids begged me to paint their pumpkins. So I thought ok we will do that instead of carving them, I was all for that! Yep that didn't happen! After they painted them they wanted to carve them! It was fun and totally worth the faces they made as they pulled out the "guts" of the pumpkin. And of course we made pumpkin seeds, way to yummy! Then it was Halloween. Every year we go to my sister's house in Folsom, it's a little hard to trick or treat in rice fields. Anyhoot the kids always get a ton of candy, it's crazy. My sister was dressed up as Wonder Woman, it was great! Lidia and Quintin (Lidia's brother) go with us to. On to November... the long awaited birth of HARLEE, wasn't very easy for mom but all is well and she is beautiful!! So on that note I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my cousin Josh (23) (who is getting married on Sunday, it's about damn time, love you!), my niece Carrie (7), my niece Georgia (9) and my mother in law Marie (I am so not saying her age). For 4H we had our big fundraiser breakfast, which I was in charge of. I get to brag it turned out awesome, we made a lot of money for the club! I couldn't have pulled it off with out a lot of help from the parents in our club who not only donated items but their time and the kids who served the meals. I was very proud of our club that day!! SO next year if you are in the area you should stop by, it's yummy food!! And you get huge portions!! It's always held on the opening day of Pheasant Season. The kids also had Family Art Night at their school, it was funded by our GATE program and ran by our Art teacher, Erin. She also happens to be our babysitter, that is if we ever went any where. She does lots for the school and she is only 19. We just love her to death! She also helped me out with our 4H breakfast. The pic with Maddy and Erin at the breakfast also has Miss Preslie in it. She is such a cutie! So that is the catch up for the month. I am really excited tomorrow night is TWILIGHT!! I am sure I will have pics from that " ) there is a big ol group that is going. Til next time... Have a great one!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and More

On October 11th it was Shawn's 37th Birthday, damn he is old. I am only kidding!! On October 18th it was Maddy's 9th Birthday! Ok now I feel old!! We have, I guess you can kinda call it a tradition, for any special occasion we always go to Thunder Valley for Dinner. I know what you are thinking, it's not to gamble! Honestly, it's the DESSERT bar at the buffet. That is the most important part of dinner!

On Maddy's actual Birthday we hung out at home. My Mom and Dad and one of Maddy's best friends, Lidia came over. We had Tacos (Maddy's pick) and Stuffed Quail ( Shawn's pick). Shawn's parents were there too! Maddy got Guitar Hero for her Birthday and holy cow is it a ton of FUN!! The kids also rode their quads.

Yesterday we went to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch with the school, K - 2nd grade gets to go. We had a lot of fun! And of course I had to get CRINKLE COOKIES YUMMY!!! Yep they are already gone too!!

It was also my Grandma's Birthday. She turned 84. I have always been blessed having my Grams around. She cooks the best Portuguese Soup EVER and her Onions holy yummy!! I can't share the recipes cuz they are "in the family" but trust me they are awesome!!

Here are the rest of the Birthdays... Holly (we aren't saying how old, she is older then me! ok only by 2 months but still!); Tiffany (she gets married in a month!!!); and Aaron (he shares the day with Maddy). SO Happy Birthday to you!!!

Getting caught up...

I really am trying to blog more often but I swear time is flying by way to fast!!! I have so much I want to share too!!

Let me see... I totally forgot to share that Wyatt, who has never before played on Monkey Bars, can now go across them!! It was a very exciting day when he came home to tell me. It wasn't that long after school started that's what was surprising to me.

At the beginning of the month I went to my cousin, Alayna's house to take some pics of the belly (she is prego, VERY prego, due date is the 22nd) and while we were there Cousin Tiffany and Noah came over. I have mentioned before I have a pretty big extended family, any time we are at a family function Noah is carried off in someone else's arms all day long and I have never really gotten to hang out with him. He is the cutest little boy ever. We sat down with him on the grass and all he could do was laugh, it was great!! So of course I was taking pics! One of them is with Maddy and Wyatt, I almost cried. Wyatt looks so grown up next to Noah. I will see if Alayna cares if I share her belly pics they are cool! I have to do some adjustments first, haven't gotten there yet! By then I will have a pic of baby Harlee (her daughter) We can't wait to see what she looks like!!

Let see what else has been happening, oh yeah we had our 4H club meeting and it was a Halloween theme so the kiddos all got to wear their costumes it was lots of fun!! A couple of the officers, came up with a great game to play after the meeting and all the kids got a little bag of candy. I must say if you have an opportunity to join your local 4H club DO IT!! It really is a lot of fun and the kids learn so much on so many different levels it's really cool! So you will see Maddy as Batgirl and Wyatt as Batman! And since we are on the 4H topic my friend Valerie and I are the Beginning 4H leaders and we had our first meeting this month, HOLY COW!!! We have 19 kids and 3 Junior Leaders (well 1 official Junior Leader and 2 Junior, Junior Leaders). It is a huge group of kids, they are awesome!! In case you don't know what Beginning 4H is... basically we teach Kindergarten - 3rd Grade and we kinda prep them for becoming a regular member in 4th Grade. In 4th Grade they can start selling animals and showing them. I have been leading this project for 5 years and I dragged Valerie into it 3 years ago (Thanks Val!) Anyhoot our largest group was 10 kids and we thought wow that's a lot. Well look at us now!!! I am very excited about the group, they really are a great group of kids! I have said it before but I really do love living where we do. I couldn't imagine living in a city. We have such a small community here and it's great. That's it for now but I know I will post more soon...I have Maddy's 9th Birthday to talk about!!

Sarah Palin

So for those of you that don't already know this... My cousin Alayna is from Wasilla, Alaska. Her mom Adele is friends with Sarah Palin. Here is a news article that came out right after the announcement of her running as VP with McCain. Adele is the one laughing on the couch and her husband Alan is sitting to her right in the chair laughing. Alayna is married to my cousin Chase and they were married in Palmer, Alaska which is right outside Wasilla. If you have never had a chance to travel to Alaska you truly are missing out! It is an amazing place! I gotta say Sarah Rocks!! In a strange way by having some kind of association to her, Maddy is getting into politics. She loves to read or hear things about her. She is watching the VP debate as I type! She may not understand it all but she thinks it's cool!! So on that note... whether Sarah Palin and John McCain win this election, her being out there has made this a very interesting race. So Sarah Thank You for making this one interesting!!! : ) I have also posted the link to Adele's website. She is an amazing Christian Singer and has made a difference to a lot of people out there. We are very fortunate to have Alyana in our lives and also the pleasure of knowing her Mom and Dad. They really are great people with great hearts!!

Here is the link to the New York Times article...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05wasilla.html

Ok Long Time No Blog!!!

So I really have no valid excuse for not blogging...I have just been busy!! : ) Lots have gone on in the last month. I will try to touch on some of them. And of course I will have lots of pictures to follow. At the beginning of the month we had our local Labor Day Parade in the small town of Nicolaus. The tradition is that every Kindergarten class have a float in the Parade. The theme for the float was "Pleasant Grove School Creating Brainiacs". You guessed it Wyatt was in it! Not to be out done, Maddy was also in our High School Cheerleading float. She attended Cheer Camp over the summer and they get to walk with the girls in the Parade. Always a ton of fun! Maddy's Class had a Nacho Booth and we got to work that for a while. Again didn't I say busy?!?! That day was also opening day of Dove Season. So after that really long morning/afternoon. Wyatt, Shawn, & Poppa went for some Dove. Yep my kids were tired that night! We had our first 4H meeting of the year. That went good. This year myself and 2 other moms are the community leaders and it's been fun. We have lots of ideas and lots of new kids that signed up. Maddy is one of our Historians this year, which means she gets to help make a scrapbook of the years events. She also got to do a presentation with the other officers at Back to School Night. She was nervous! She did really good though! Wyatt is really excited to start one of his projects...CHICKENS!!! Dad is oh so happy about that!! We had a couple of Birthdays this month...Alayna; Bailey; Nick; and Valerie HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!! We did have some sad news, Shawn's Grandma "Granny" passed away on the 19th. She had been living with us (next door) for the last 3 years. I was very blessed to get to know her, as well as my kids. She was an amazing women and ALWAYS made sure there was food in the house. That was a really fond memory of Shawn's. When ever he went to her house there was always a pot of beans on or something warming on the stove. There isn't enough room in this blog to describe her life. She had a very colorful life, one with lots of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even a great-great- grandchild. She loved them all very much and showed it. My kids had the unique opportunity to not only meet her but share a big part of their lives with her. They will miss her as we all will. Ok so to lighten it up a little... HEROES started this month and OMG!! I can't believe where they are taking some of the characters!! I really am liking Claire with dark hair! I don't like that she seems to be so angry in the future! Can't wait for Monday nights!! And no I haven't seen last night's show...I DVR'd it though!!! We just got back from a weekend hunting trip and I am really excited! I got my first Grouse and Mountain Quail. I love hunting Quail they are really fast and fun to shoot at! I have gone Quail hunting before but they were Valley Quail. We had to sneak up on the Grouse for me to get a shot and that was FUN!! The kids had a great time. Maddy was helping me find the Quail and Grouse. I got to use Shawn's old Quad and Maddy and I drove around together. It was a short weekend though, we would have loved to stay longer!! I think that is it for now. Hope everyone out there is having a great day!!

WOW! What a weekend!!

So we had a crazy weekend, lots of fun! On Saturday we started off our day with Cody's 4th Birthday Party, Happy Birthday Buddy!! I was taking pics with Lisa's camera and forgot to get one of Cody with my camera but I have a cute one to share of Wyatt, Maddy and Bailey playing on a raft. They had such a great time! Thanks for the fun Cody!

Then we went to pick up Gabby and Nicky, the cousins! Last year I helped Gabby with her 10 year project and told Nick that if he had to do it I would help him to. Well you guessed it it was his turn. Basically the project is to show off your 10 years of life. They have to do things like a time line of their lives and World events, 10 favorite things, 10 adj., Baby pic, Hero pic, and some other fun stuff. Here's the trick nothing can be handwritten. Thankfully I borrowed the Cricut and the Disney Font Cartridge from Holly and Lisa and we were off! It turned out great! We had a lot of computer research and lots of printing. That brings me to my next...got a new printer a HP Photosmart C5280 All-in-one and it is AWESOME!!! I can't believe the pictures it prints!! So here is Nick with his project.

While I had the whole crew, Uncle Shawn/Daddy decided to make Smores, INSIDE the house. I guess it's a good thing we have a gas stove! They loved it. So of course I had to get a pic of that, duh! Gabby loves smores!

And last but not least... we had a major event happen in our house this weekend. My son decided he wanted to give a hair cut to himself. Yep you read right. Neither one of my kids have ever cut anyone's hair or their own hair. (OK Maddy cut out a rubber band in Lidia's hair cuz it was stuck, but she was trying to help) This was a complete shock! He was helping Nick cut out some things for his project and pretty quick he says... "Mom my hair is falling out" I quickly turned around and said "what are you talking about?" Just then I see the scissors in his hands a little smirk on his face and hair falling off his head. I totally flipped out! I was so mad!! PICTURE DAY IS TOMORROW!!! I said couldn't you have waited til after that?? So once the shock wore off I laughed my butt off!! Needless to say we went to Great Clips to see if they could do something, not really he cut it all the way to the scalp...cuz "mommy it feels like a rats tail". So for his Kindergarten pic he will have a little buzz in front oh and a fat lip. No I didn't give it to him!!! He and Nick were jumping on the trampoline and he hit Nick's shoulder with his mouth and split his lip. Gotta say this will make for a great Scrap Layout! Sometimes you just have to LAUGH!! Told ya crazy weekend! Have a great Monday.