Food for the Road

Christmas.

2011-12-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

It's A...

2011-12-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

BOY!!

Really the picture says it all.

Baby boy was being super uncooperative and didn't want his picture taken so the ones they gave me weren't that great. The 3D picture above is the best one of his face. The Husband and I agree that it looks a little creepy. Ha, ha!

Kaeleigh and Maylyn took a poll with my dad today to see who thought the baby was going to be a boy and who thought it would be a girl. Boy was unanimous. I've thought this whole time that he was a boy so we're all really excited! Baby is measuring at my original due date (May 20th) but my doctor hasn't changed the due date yet. As long as he doesn't have to share a birthday with his sister Maylyn then we'll be good. He can arrive any time after May 19th...but not before. :)

Parties and pox.

2011-12-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

The kids just had another fun weekend.

On Sunday we celebrated the 6th birthday of our friend John at Chuck E. Cheese.

These are their excited faces.

They had so much fun and Kaeleigh didn't even cry when Chuck E. came out.

(Which has happened before. Ha, ha. Poor Kaeleigh.)

Then when we got home I noticed Maylyn had some red bumps on her upper torso and it turned out to be chicken pox!

It was around this same time last year that Maylyn got so sick and ended up in the hospital for 9 days. I'll take chicken pox over hospitalization any day of the week! Luckily, she's got a very mild case with only a few spots. Her doctor said that's usually the case if you get them after you've been vaccinated.

She missed the last 2 days of school for the semester. She was pretty upset...not because she was missing school but that she was missing all of the parties! I had emailed her teacher and she was nice enough to send home all of the makings for the gingerbread house that Maylyn missed out on. Her teacher even sent enough stuff home for Kaeleigh to make one too!

She's such an awesome lady.

I love how happy they look here.

Best Weekend Ever.

2011-12-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of December was a busy one for us.

On Saturday we were invited to my friend's Gingerbread Party.

Jill and Eric have been friends of mine since high school and they do this party annually.

This was the first year we were able to make it and I'm so glad we did.

I got to see some old friends, hold some super cute babies, and the girls had a blast!

Maylyn and Emma enjoying their gingerbread "tee pees."

On Sunday the girls were invited to a bowling birthday party for one of Kaeleigh's classmates.

What's more fun than cosmic bumper bowling?

Getting to hula hoop while waiting for your turn to bowl.

They had so much fun that Kaeleigh declared it the "Best Weekend Ever!"

November.

2011-12-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

You know what's really sad?

I took exactly eight pictures in the month of November.

Eight.

Ugh. I'm a failure.

Did I remember my camera on Thanksgiving?

Nope.

It's like Thanksgiving 2011 didn't even happen.

My mom put me in charge of making the mash potatoes this year for our group of 20 and did I get proof of their greatness?

Nope.

Ugh. You can take my word for it. They were delicious.

Anyway, at least the pictures I did get were from Kaeleigh's 8th birthday.

My Kaeleigh is 8!!

She picked out her cake and I forgot the candles.

So we went with the next best thing...

We had family over for dinner to celebrate with her.

(Huge thanks to my dad for helping me get everything finished.)

The only other picture I got beside Kaeleigh's birthday pics was one of these mutts.

They're lucky they are so cute.

Where did October go?

2011-12-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I slept through most of October.

This pregnancy has been completely different from my other two.

The supplement the doctor put me on made me really sleepy and nauseous and dizzy.

Like pregnancy doesn't already do those things to you.

Because of the hemorrhage I got to have a second ultrasound and it was so cool to see how much bigger the baby got in just a month! The measurements were closer to my original due date so they changed the date to May 25th.

The best part of these ultrasounds is seeing and hearing the baby's heart beat.

Love it!

Even though I had officially resigned at work, I came and walked in the Halloween parade at the school. I had been working on our costumes with my friends for months so I didn't want to miss out on the final product.

We totally rocked our Cars costumes. They took such a long time to make but it was worth it. The kids loved them.

Kaeleigh and Maylyn picked cheerleader costumes this year.

They got way too much candy as usual.

I'm a little OCD and had to separate them by the different kinds.

I gave some away and threw some and yet we still have a few pieces!

We also celebrated my parent's 30th anniversary.

I ordered a cake from a local bakery and it turned out so nice.

We surprised my mom with a hot air balloon ride for her present...a present that she'll have to enjoy by herself because no one else will go up with her. The kids wanted to go but I vetoed that one. :) We'll be on the ground cheering her on and taking pictures when she goes.

September wrap up

2011-12-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's been brought to my attention that I don't update my blog...

It's not like I don't have things to blog about,

I've just had a couple of blah months where exhaustion and laziness got the better of me.

So I'll wrap up the month of September since I blogged last.

We had a play date at the aquarium.

And then we got some unexpected news...

After trying for over a year and having nothing happen, we had given up and that's when it happened. The funny part was that the Husband didn't believe me!

The positive line on the test was so faint that he didn't believe it at all. So I told him that I'd go buy one of the tests that spells out the word.

Proof!
I had a little bit of a scare when I started spotting early on. My doctor sent me for an ultrasound to verify viability and it was so awesome to see the tiny peanut's heart beat. I didn't realized that you could see the heart beat so early.

My due date is supposed to be May 20th (the day after Maylyn's birthday) but the baby was measuring small and so they changed it to May 31st. It's been changed since then but I'll get to that later. They found a subchorionic hemorrhage, put me on a supplement, and limited my activities. Unfortunately, that meant quitting my job. So it's been a little scary and stressful but so far everything is going well. The girls want a little brother. Maylyn has already decided that Lightening would be a good name. And Kaeleigh can't wait to change diapers. :)

BFF.

2011-09-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

What's better than lunch with your best friend?

Huge thanks to both of our husbands for keeping the kids so we could have a relaxing lunch.

Just a super funny picture to show just how long Lisa and I have been friends.

Judging by my Brownie Girl Scout uniform I'm probably around 2nd grade?

And that's Lisa next to me rocking the one shoulder strap overalls.

Classic.

Pooh.

2011-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

Maylyn has had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to life as a first grader.

Tears almost every day for the first two weeks of school.

Apparently she's giving me a taste of my own medicine as I cried every day for the first semester of first grade. (I wasn't happy about switching schools.) My poor parents.

Ugh. It's totally true what they say about your kids turning out exactly like you. Your kids will pay you back for all of the things that you did to your parents.

Awesome.

Anyway, Maylyn had a few good days in a row and she was picked to take home the class Winnie the Pooh bear.

She got to write a little story about all of the fun Pooh had at our house and she had to draw a picture to go along with it.

Pooh and Maylyn.

"That's a really big Pooh." -direct quote from my mom. :)

Birthday.

2011-09-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Shortly after school started we celebrated my dad's birthday.

My dad wanted either a lemon cake or a strawberry cake.

I thought I would be super creative and make a checkerboard cake using both flavors.

Only problem with that is that I don't have the special pans that most people use.

So I got on the internet and found this website.

I must have done something wrong because the outside ring of the top layer completely fell apart. It was very tragic. I cut into it and took a picture before scrapping the whole thing.

It really does look like a checkerboard! If only it had worked! Grrr.

So we stuck with our old standby, the 9 x 13 pan, and started over.

The second time was the charm in this case. It turned out great!

First Day.

2011-09-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

I really slacked on the back to school pictures this year.

These are the only two pictures that I got of the girls.

Maylyn is my big first grader now and Kaeleigh is in third grade!

Where has the time gone??

Accessories.

2011-09-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

Maylyn is still loving her glasses from her Papa.

So excited to match!

Disneyland. Day 4.

2011-08-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Day 4 started a little silly with breakfast at Denny's.

Random story; I don't know what's up with the waitresses in California, we went to Denny's on two different mornings, and both times I ordered coffee and a water; Bill ordered water and a chocolate milk. Both times the waitresses (different ones mind you) brought coffee for me AND Bill. Yeah...I don't get it either.

Twins.

Anyway, once we got to the park the girls met a few celebrities...

Vidia.

Tinkerbell.

Chatting with Tink was fun but we had stood in line for over an hour to see two fairies.

This is Maylyn saying, "All that for only two fairies??"

Crazy faces on the Teacups.

Fun on the Carousel.

Our family picture.

We capped off our last night in California by having dinner at Joes' Crab Shack.

The kids had never been there and they were pleasantly surprised that there was a "disco" as Maylyn called it. All of the servers dance around if you've never been there.

All in all it was a really fun trip. I think the girls were at a good age to enjoy a lot of the rides but I think that if we go back when they're a few years older it will be even more fun.

California Adventure. Day 3.

2011-08-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Day 3 of our California vacation took us to California Adventure.

We were already tired from walking around all day the day before so we didn't stay all day but we did get some fun rides in while we were there.

The new Little Mermaid ride was one of my favorites.

I love Ariel.

Kaeleigh and I on the Zephyr.

Waiting in line for the Grizzly Rapids ride. We waited for over an hour and a half!

On the Mickey Ferris wheel.

I had to get a picture of them in front of this window because they had "stood" there once before in March of 2006. Look at how tiny they were!

We hobbled around Downtown Disney for a little while. Our feet were killing us so we didn't go in to too many places but I just had to go into the Lego store. That place is awesome!

Giraffe made entirely of Legos.

Lego Woody!

And Lego Darth Vader.

We all slept really well that night.

Walking around and standing in line for hours will really take it out of you!

California. Days 1 and 2.

2011-08-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

We surprised the kids the day before leaving for California because I didn't want to listened to "when are we leaving?" for days. Smart, huh? Packing for four people, for five days, and not taking a truckload of suitcases is always fun. We boarded the dogs for this trip so that was one less worry. We hit the road Monday the 1st.

I've got to brag about my children for a minute. They are such great travelers. All they need is the DVD player, their activity bag, and snacks and we hardly hear a peep out of them!

The hotel room that I booked for us was a Kid Suite. Everyone with kids should have a hotel room like this. They had their own room with bunk beds, a TV, and their own bathroom. So convenient!

Tuesday morning we headed over to Disneyland!

Outside Sleeping Beauty's castle.

The Hubs and Maylyn on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Kaeleigh completely enthralled on the Nemo submarine ride.

It's a Small World.

Riding the train around the park.

In line for Star Tours.

We took a break around lunchtime and went back to the hotel to swim and take a nap. And then we had dinner before heading back to the park for a few more hours. One of the best ideas we had all day. Second best idea? Waiting for the fireworks to start and then hitting the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Probably the only time all day that there wasn't an hour long line for that ride. Stay tuned for day three!

End of July.

2011-08-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Who has two thumbs and doesn't update her blog??

-->This girl<--

Sheesh!

Up until yesterday I wasn’t working so you’d think I could keep this blog up to date!

The end of July was fairly uneventful. The kids finished up swim lessons.

Maylyn spent some time in "Grandma's school" learning sight words to get ready for first grade.

Kaeleigh found a new store to love in Bookmans. She could clean the place out! She is all about The Baby-Sitters Club and The Boxcar Children right now.

This little dog became a little more spoiled.

This little girl got some glasses from her papa.

They're her new favorite accessory.

On the last day of July we surprised the girls with a little puzzle.

We planned a last minute vacation and they had to figure out where we were headed...

More to come!

Happy Birthday Mom.

2011-07-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my mom's birthday.

She requested that the girls make her birthday cake.

So after swim lessons we got to work...

I had them each crack an egg.

You can see how hard Maylyn was concentrating on getting it right.

Kaeleigh's surprised face cracks me up.

Kaeleigh was hesitant and didn't really want to try, but well, I made her. :)

And she did a great job!

The best part!

They were so excited to wear the aprons they got from my sister's mother-in-law.

And here's the finished product!

We turned Oreos into sunflowers and M&Ms into ladybugs. :)

For the record, this picture is turned the right way on my computer, for whatever reason it keeps loading to my blog in the wrong direction and it's driving me crazy. I'm walking away now.

K-train and Money.

2011-07-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

The kids started swim lessons this week.

Both are doing an awesome job.

Kaeleigh is a little cautious but that's true with everything she does.

One of their swim instructors has given them all nicknames.

He calls Kaeleigh, K-train. You can see him in the video say, "Woo woo."

Maylyn's nickname is Money Maylyn. Because she's "money in the water."

This guy is really funny.

Anniversary.

2011-07-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

The Husband and I just celebrated our 2nd anniversary!!

I can't believe how fast these last two years have flown by.

He and I were talking about how it feels like we've been married for longer than two years. It's crazy!

We spent the evening with John and Carrie.

First for dinner at Gordon Biersch and then we ended the evening at The Big Bang in Tempe.

I had a ton of fun. Didn't take a single picture even though I had my camera in my purse.

Luckily John took a picture of all of us on his phone at The Big Bang.

I got PLENTY of pictures from our wedding and honeymoon in Mexico.

Here's a few of my favorites from two years ago...

Happy Anniversary babe!

I love you. The most. :)

Tooth Fairy.

2011-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

June 30th marked a big milestone at our house.

Maylyn lost her first tooth!

She couldn't find her tooth when she went to bed that night but the Tooth Fairy came the next night and left her a dollar in quarters.

She woke me up really early to show me "all the money" she got.

I was very surprised. :)

The Cutest.

2011-07-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Aren't they the cutest??

I just want to squeeze them!

Poor Jake.

2011-07-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Husband has a squeaking dog toy app on his phone...

We are so mean.

Father's Day.

2011-07-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Father's day was spent by "surprising" Bill with breakfast in bed.

I had told him that the girls wanted to surprise him so he stayed in bed while we I cooked.

Someone else in our house celebrated Father's day...

I just love how big Charlie is getting. :)

Horsey.

2011-07-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned Maylyn's love of horses?

At least a time or two.

Well, a couple days after we got back from San Diego, the Hubs made one happy camper out of Maylyn.

He found this Radio Flyer horse on craigslist for a steal! It makes noise while you're riding it.

Jake didn't know what to do with it.

Kaeleigh was pretty happy too.

Surprise.

2011-07-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

We spent the second weekend in June in San Diego.

Our friend Carrie had planned a surprise birthday weekend for her husband John.

John thought that he and Carrie and his cousin and her husband we going to SD to spend the weekend on their family boat and just have fun.

Little did he know that Carrie had been planning this surprise for over a year and there were about 13 of us descending on SD that weekend to celebrate with him.

The Husband and I drove down Friday the 10th and brought John's sister and spouse along with us. We were the first to surprise John.

First though, we saw the ugliest front yard ever. Yuck.

John was totally shocked when the four of us showed up. But just about had a heart attack when three more of his friends arrived. One of whom he hadn't seen in a few years and had been over in Afghanistan.

Carrie took a video of them showing up and scaring John; it was hilarious!

Here I am after the surprises...having a cocktail on the patio of this beautiful restaurant.

I was loving all of the big Naval ships in the area.

Carrie found a smoking deal at the Kona Kai hotel on Shelter Island and that afternoon after everyone had arrived, our whole group went down to the volleyball court. I sat on the sidelines and watched what turned out to be drunken volleyball.

I think the Hubs and I were the only ones that were sober.

The ball ended up going in the water so many times that David just stayed in it.

The next morning all of the guys went on the deep sea fishing trip Carrie planned.

Poor Hubs was sea sick almost the whole time. :(

While they were out on the ocean, us girls went to Seaport Village.

Saturday night we had reservations at one of Carrie and John's favorite restaurants, Brigantine.

Oh wow, it was delicious! I couldn't get enough of the Lobster and Crab fondue and my entree was a Chinese Shrimp salad. Holy moly, I want to go back just for the food.

On Sunday everyone else headed home but since my birthday was on Monday, the Hubs and I stayed an extra day. We went back to Seaport Village to walk around and shop.

We spent the remaining part of the trip walking around Shelter Island (the weather was gorgeous!), relaxing on our balcony, and sun bathing down at the pool.

It was a really good weekend and the perfect way to start off my 29th year of life!

That's right, I'm 29 folks.

Counting down til my 30th...I can't wait!

Summer time.

2011-07-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am so far behind on my blogging!

This summer is going by so fast.

Last month (yes, I'm that far behind) both Kaeleigh and Maylyn participated in the All Kids Are Gifted program. This makes Kaeleigh's 3rd summer in the program and Maylyn's first.

Kaeleigh loved it. No surprise there. She just loves school.

Maylyn loved it for the first week...and then decided she didn't like it anymore and cried almost every day after that.

One day after AKAG we went to McDonald's to celebrate Kaeleigh's bestie's birthday.

Kaeleigh and Shayla ran into one of their school classmates while we were there.

Bradon and Maylyn were showing me that they are ready for first grade!

Group shot.

I can't believe how big they're getting!

Genetics.

2011-06-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Like father, like son.

They even sleep the same.

And it looks like Charlie is going to take as long as Jake to be completely house broken. Yay. :)

Dbacks.

2011-06-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

At school on Maylyn's birthday, she was picked out of a drawing and won tickets to see the Dbacks!

*Side note-the drawing was for good attendance. Which is funny if you know how many days of school she missed while she was sick.*

Anyway, the seats were up in the rafters so I tapped a friend and got an upgrade.

My mom and I took the girls to their very first major league baseball game.

They were pretty excited and we hadn't even left the parking garage yet!

We made it about six innings. :)

They got bored once the yummy snacks that Grandma bought ran out.

Thank you again Lindsay and Jeff!

Memorial Camping.

2011-06-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

We spent Memorial weekend up north camping with our camping cohorts.

Amazingly, I took hardly any pictures...and there's not a single picture of me.

I swear I was there!

All bundled up. It was cold in the morning!

On the hunt for some pretty rocks.

And finding a horned toad.

The kids decided to go on ahead because I was taking too long.

The campsite we found was so quiet! There was only one other set of campers up there.

It's our new secret camping spot...shhh!

Last day.

2011-06-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Maylyn is no longer a Kindergarten baby!

(stick your head in gravy...anyone else remember that rhyme?)

Sadly they no longer do the graduations with the construction paper hats.

(Some schools still do, Maylyn's isn't one of them)

Here is my baby on her first day of school.

And here she is on her last day.

So, so big!!

I can't believe the school year is already over.

Both girls had amazing report cards and I was asked to come back next year!

I'm super excited and the girls are too, they love having their mom work at their school.

Unless they're getting in trouble for not wearing a jacket or not finishing their lunch. Ha! :)

Charlie.

2011-06-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Two days after celebrating Maylyn's 6th birthday we brought our new baby home.

Meet Charlie.

And he looks exactly like his dad!

Here's Jake meeting his offspring for the first time.

I hope you don't mind seeing pictures of Charlie because I can't get over the cuteness!

Even Chloe likes him!

Most days...

This picture makes me laugh so hard!

It's mini-Jake!

Maylyn is 6!

2011-05-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today is Maylyn's 6th birthday!!

Doesn't she look so excited to be celebrating her birthday?!

Who needs presents when you have a big cardboard box? Hee hee.

My little girl is getting SO big!

Happy Birthday Maylyn!

We love you!!

Mother's Day.

2011-05-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

I was woken up to a wonderful present this morning...

Bill and the girls made me breakfast in bed...

And gave me some handmade gifts...

And then we all went out to lunch.

I look a little goofy because I was talking...but everyone else looks cute!

Today has been such a great Mother's Day!

Forgetful.

2011-05-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Easter bunny had forgotten that she had a few more things tucked away...

Those are their excited faces.

Septuplets.

2011-05-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

When Father's day rolls around...

Jake's going to need a really BIG gift!

Our Jakey is a daddy!
And we get first pick of the litter.

We've already got our new little bundle all picked out.

It's a good thing the decision wasn't left up to Maylyn...she was ready to take them all home!

Easter.

2011-05-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

Early Easter morning the girls hunted around the house for their Easter baskets.

I love the pj pictures.

After we were dressed we spent the day with the family at my aunt's house.

All of the kids were on the hunt for eggs.

And of course I made them all sit down and take a family photo.

They love me for it. :)

Shamrock.

2011-05-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Last month the kindergarteners went on a field trip to Shamrock Farms.

And because I work with kindergarteners I got to go too!

The bus ride was a little scary.

We had a bus driver that was easily distracted and had a hard time staying on the road.

"Oh look, cows!"

Maylyn didn't seem to mind though.

I had fun too. :)

They had a cute little play area for the kids.

Maylyn was in heaven when she got to pet some of the calves.

We all had such a good time. There was milk and ice cream for everyone.

It was such a good time that many of the kids fell asleep on the way home...including Maylyn.

Recap.

2011-04-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for my recap?

Here we go...

On Friday April 1st we got a phone call that The Husband's dad (my father-in-law) had been involved in an accident. The Hubs was at work so I left the kids with my parents (thanks mom and dad!) and dashed to the emergency room. It was pretty obvious that my FIL had broken his leg but we didn't learn the extent to which he had broken it until after they finished all of their scans and x-rays. The hospital that he was in was not in any hurry at all. Seriously not impressed with this place and will never go there.

Anyway, he broke it pretty good. I can't even begin to describe the damage. Lots of reconstruction was needed. They waited until Monday the 4th to do the surgery because a cardiologist had to make sure he'd be okay for surgery due to his age.

On Saturday, Chloe started coughing. And by Sunday Jake was coughing as well and had a snout full of snot. Did you know dogs get boogers? Me either, it was nasty.

Sunday also brought my sister-in-law and brother-in-law into town. They had come down just to visit us, not knowing that they'd get here just after my FIL's accident.

So Monday brought surgery for my FIL and a ~~very expensive~~ trip to the vet with both dogs.

The vet diagnosed kennel cough and gave each dog a shot of antibiotics and other vitamins as well as antibiotics to give them at home. It is next to impossible to give medicine to a dog that is too sick to eat. I've spent almost every day this past week shoving pills down their throats. Mainly Jake's throat. Chloe finally discovered a love of Spam and is now taking her pills with no problems. Jake on the other hand, had to go back to the vet on Friday because he wasn't eating or drinking at all. We finally were able to entice him to eat last night with some leftover pot roast and so we snuck his pills into it. Whew! Fun, right?

My FIL's surgery on Monday ended up being eight and a half hours! He came out with a lot of internal hardware:

That's including 2 plates and about 23 screws.

They started physical therapy the next day and hopefully he'll be home in the next week or so.

This last week wasn't all drama though. We enjoyed the hot weather by pulling the jumpy castle out for the kids to use.

My sick puppies sharing Chloe's bed.

And even though they're sick, they are learning to love each other...slowly. :)

Flashback Friday.

2011-04-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

This past week has been super busy!

I'll catch up on all that later.

In the meantime, enjoy some super cute pictures of the girls from 2006!

Hook' em Horns

Flashback Friday.

2011-04-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

I love this picture for two reasons:

1. Kaeleigh's hair is so curly!

2. Maylyn looks like something scared her. Hee hee.

Constructive criticism.

2011-03-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

Check out Kaeleigh's note on Maylyn's writing.

This made me laugh.

Click to enlarge.

Baby.

2011-03-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

While the kids were at the softball game

I was at the pound looking for a playmate for Jake.

Right when I walked in I saw the dog I wanted.

I stood in front of her cage for nearly 40 minutes until the Husband could take his lunch and come see her. I knew I wanted her to come home with us and I wasn't letting anyone else get her.

Meet our new baby...Chloe.

She made herself right at home.

Jake's not quite sure what to do with her yet but they've had several cute moments.

She's such a good dog.

Right away she figured out the dog door and the water licker outside.

So far she's fitting in perfectly!

Softball.

2011-03-30T21:15:00.001-07:00

On Sunday the kids went with my parents to the ASU women's softball game.

My girls love ASU.

I've mentioned it a few times on the blog.

They were all decked out in their ASU gear when they met Sparky.

This picture is so them...Maylyn being silly and Kaeleigh laughing at her.

My parent's bought them bricks at the softball annex!

We love them, thank you grandma and papa!

Flashback Friday.

2011-03-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

My dad found some old pictures of Kaeleigh so this flashback is all about her!

First day home from the hospital.

I LOVE this picture of her! She's so teeny. :)

Sometimes I miss her being this small...

Air Show.

2011-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while the Husband and our friend John went to the Gun Show at the Cardinal's stadium, Carrie (John's wife) and I took the kids to an air show at Luke AFB.

Here's a couple pictures:

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.

This is them "looking at the camera." They're actually looking at the tv screen in the car.

We had a really good time.

Couple things to remember for next time though:

Parking sucks. Be prepared to walk...far.
Port-a-potties are disgusting!
Outside food is not permitted. The military does not mess around. They will throw away every piece of food in your possession...including your ice packs. (Grrr.)
Tired children do not like walking all the way back to the car at the end of a fun day.

Check back tomorrow for Flashback Friday!

Camping.

2011-03-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

We took a quick trip up north for Spring Break.

The spot where we normally camp was closed.

Not really sure why...there was next to no snow left up there.

My poor deprived children had never seen snow.

Kaeleigh saw it and said, "What's that white stuff?"

The Husband and I were laughing pretty hard at that.

They had fun sliding around.

We found another campsite nearby thanks to the Hubs.

Dinner was delicious.

We made mini sliders.

Definitely don't mess around with food when we camp.

The temperature got down to 40 degrees overnight.

I bundled the kids up in the morning so they could go walk Jake by the creek.

The kids were nice and cozy on the trip home.

Especially Jake...that is one spoiled dog!

Flashback Friday: Spring Break Edition.

2011-03-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Break this year was pretty uneventful.

Both kids have been sick this week.

We did take a short camping trip that I'll post pictures of tomorrow.

For this Friday's Flashback I've got some pictures from Spring Break 2006 when my dad took us all to Disneyland.

Kaeleigh on the train.

With my babies.

Baby Maylyn.

Kaeleigh wearing my shades.

I hope everyone is having an awesome Spring Break!

A-Z

2011-03-17T08:00:00.006-07:00

I saw this cute post over on Heather's Blog and had to copy!

A. Age: 28

B. Bed size: California King
C. Chore you dislike: Folding laundry

D. Dogs: Our boxer, Jake

E. Essential start to your day: Shower. I am not one of those people that can shower at night. Gotta be the morning time.

F. Favorite color: Red

G. Gold or silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'8"

I. Instruments you play(ed): Flute, in junior high
J. Job title: Special Ed Instructional Aide
K. Kids: Kaeleigh and Maylyn
L. Live: Arizona
M. Mom’s name: Mom :)

N. Nicknames: Honey, mom, Kae

O. Overnight hospital stays: 4-twice when I was younger for asthma and one for each c-section

P. Pet peeves: People that can't spell correctly

Q. Quote from a movie: "I'd like to be pimps from Oakland or cowboys from Arizona but it's not Halloween. Grow up Peter Pan, Count Chocula."

R. Righty or lefty: Right

S. Siblings: younger brother and younger sister

T. Time you wake up: 5:15am

U. Underwear: "I'm not gonna go commando in another man's fatigues." (Friends, anyone?)
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Onions, bleck

W.What makes you run late: dawdling children :)

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, foot, chest

Y. Yummy food you make: Beef Stroganoff, and I love to bake.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Tigers

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

Hmmm...

2011-03-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

This seems to be a running theme lately...

Preparing me for those teenage years full of eye rolling?

Awesome.

Flashback Friday.

2011-03-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

My girls.

Typical siblings.

If they're not like this:

Then they're like this:

Happy Friday everyone!

Spring Break has officially started!

Who's excited??

Just because.

2011-03-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

I've tried telling them that their faces will stay that way...

Flat Stanley.

2011-03-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Kaeleigh had a Flat Stanley project due at school this last week.

If you've never heard of Flat Stanley, it's a book series written by Jeff Brown about a boy who gets flattened by a bulletin board while he's sleeping and many adventures follow.

Kaeleigh's Stanley accompanied us to several places...

We took him to a Chinese restaurant where he used chopsticks.

He also came with us when we went to the dollar theatre to see Megamind.

Kaeleigh also took him to my parent's house and had tostadas!

She had such a blast taking him around with us.

Flashback Friday.

2011-03-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

My babies...

Don't ya just love em?!

Flashback Friday.

2011-02-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Taking it back to the 80's today!

My dad gave me a bunch of old pictures and I just had to share a few...

My brother and I are so little!!

Happy Friday everyone!

I don't know about you but I'm SO glad that the weekend is here!

Uploads.

2011-02-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here's some random photos from my phone taken in the last month and a half...

Some from Maylyn's hospital stay.

With her furry pal Murray.

Feeling better before being discharged.

Some of the fun Kaeleigh had while Maylyn was in the hospital.

Having fun with her papa at an ASU game.

Maylyn showing off her battle scars.

So happy about the new shirts from their Auntie.

And driving home from school this week.

Being a kid is exhausting!

Gangsta.

2011-02-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

The girls had some fun with my dad after he had had his eyes dialated.

He put those super cool shades that he got sent home with on the girls and buttoned up their shirts and well...they're a little bit gangsta. :)

Trying not to smile.

And then I took a couple of pictures with my phone of them just being silly little girls.

Birthday cake.

2011-02-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month we celebrated the birthday of our friend Macee.

As part of her gift from us I told Christene

(her mom, I've mentioned them all on the blog before)

that I would do the birthday cake for the party.

After working on my grandparent's anniversary cake, I thought I'd try my hand at another cake because I really want to get back into cake decorating.

The theme for the party was Hannah Montana.

And here's the cake!

It was a half chocolate/half strawberry cake with a strawberry cream filling and vanilla butter cream icing. Macee wanted it sparkly so I went back out to that awesome cake store and bought some glitter made especially for baking and sprinkled that on the cake.

The birthday girl loved it!

As always Christene is super creative and had some really fun activites for the party.

I didn't take too many pictures but I did get this one of the potato sack race.

You can see Maylyn in the purple jacket.

The party, and the cake, were a big success!

Dreams.

2011-02-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up on!

I've been taking random pictures (mostly with my phone)

for the last month or so....I took a picture vacation along with my blog-cation.

But I had to have photographic proof of Maylyn's dream come true. :)

If you know Maylyn, you know just how much she LOVES horses.

The grandparents of one of her friends has two horses and invited us to come riding.

Last weekend we drove out to Queen Creek to make her day.

Kaeleigh had a blast too.

I was actually really worried that she might be scared, because she's afraid of everything else but she rode first and was loving it!

This is Kaeleigh on Joe.

And Maylyn...needless to say, she was in Heaven!!

She didn't want to get off of the horse!

My girls having the time of their lives.

Seeing Kaeleigh's face in this picture makes me so happy.

Anyone want to take a guess on how many times since then that I've been asked when we're getting a horse??

Flashback Friday. Way Overdue!

2011-02-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Talk about a WAY overdue blog post.

I took a mini blog-cation.

But I really hate letting another Friday pass by without a Flashback!

Here's a couple of pictures I found today in the ol' archive.

Baby Kaeleigh (and baby Karen--my 21 yr old self) in early 2004

And Maylyn and Kaeleigh in December of 2006.

So stinkin' adorable...I love it!

Happy weekend everyone!

Here's hoping the kids sleep in tomorrow! :)

Flashback Friday: Maylyn Edition.

2011-01-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

This Flashback Friday is for Maylyn.

Just a couple of my favorite pictures of her...

The last time I was at the hospital with Maylyn.

First piggy tails.

Love this little girl.

Maylyn.

2011-01-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

My hopes of getting released from the hospital on Sunday

were dashed when Maylyn started to get worse.

Even after the surgery she was still in a lot of pain.

And then she started to display other symptoms that had the doctors speculating on a completely different diagnosis.

I've decided not to post the diagnosis publicly on the internet, but I'll tell you it's rare and she'll require ongoing monitoring.

Once they made the diagnosis, they started treatment and within half a day you could see she was improving. The difference was amazing.

We did eventually get released on Wednesday afternoon after a 9 day stay in the hospital.

The new children's hospital is wonderful and aside from one bad nurse, the staff was so great with Maylyn.

The poor baby went through so much.

She got blood drawn 3 times.

Went through 2 CT scans.

One treatment session and a another procedure.

She had her IV moved between both hands multiple times.

She's such a trooper. I don't know many people that could handle everything she went through and she's 5!

It was so hard for me to watch her in pain and not be able to do anything.

I had a couple of mini meltdowns. And aside from running to my parent's house to shower (they live closer to the hospital than we do) I was by her side the entire time.

I'm extremely lucky to have the family and friends that I do.

My parents kept Kaeleigh for me almost the entire time we were there.

The Husband was so supportive and between him and my dad, they kept me fed and laughing and distracted so I didn't break down in front of Maylyn.

My dad was so amazing. He spent nearly as much time at the hospital as I did.

And we had so many friends reach out to us and offer support and meals, I'm truly blessed and can't thank everyone enough. It meant so much to me.

We've been home for two days now and I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me. And Maylyn too. She's told me that she's glad she's home as well.

Holding the friendship quilt her classmates made for her.

Hospital.

2010-12-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

When I blogged Tuesday morning at 3am about Maylyn's trip to the emergency room

I wasn't expecting to be back there a couple hours later...

Maylyn didn't improve at all Monday night/Tuesday morning

so when 8am rolled around I made a call to her pediatrician who told me to take her straight back to the emergency room. She called ahead which helped grease some wheels so as soon as we got there they put her in a room of her own in the ER and admitted her to the hospital.

We had to wait about 5 hours for a room on the pediatric floor but at least they were able to hook her up to an IV and get some drugs into her right away.

The infection in her lymph nodes on the right side of her neck caused her neck to swell considerably. She's been in so much pain that they've been giving her morphine as well as broad spectrum antibiotics to fight the infection that caused this whole mess.

After two full days (Tuesday and Wednesday) of IV antibiotics, and no change, they decided to do a CT scan Thursday morning to see what was happening in that neck of hers.

They found an abscess had developed and decided to do surgery to drain it.

They did the surgery yesterday (Thursday) and it went well.

The surgeon left the drain in her neck and she should hopefully get it removed tomorrow.

She hasn't eaten since we've been here so they're hoping now that some of that pressure has been released that she'll start feeling better and be able to eat.

I had to coax her to eat a few bites of dinner tonight but did get her to drink most of a can of PediaSure so at least she's getting some vitamins.

Depending on how she's recovering, we may be out of here on Sunday. Fingers crossed.

There's so much more to write here but I'm pretty sleep deprived and on the verge of an emotional meltdown any minute so I just wanted to get part of this down while it's fresh.

I'll try to keep the blog updated with her condition...

This week...

2010-12-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

Yikes. A week and a half since I last blogged?

I would blame the holidays but that's only part of the reason.

The last time I blogged Maylyn was fighting pneumonia, the flu and an ear infection.

A couple days later, Kaeleigh got an ear infection as well.

By the time Christmas rolled around I had a sinus infection.

And here it it, three days after Christmas and Maylyn is sick again. :(

Last night we made a trip to the emergency room because she started running a fever again and the right side of her neck swelled up.

The poor child had to get blood drawn, and an IV put in, and have an ultrasound done on her neck.

She fell asleep in my lap. :(

My view of the waiting room...Maylyn's IV and the tv.

It turns out that she has a deep lymph node infection.

She looks so miserable it's breaking my heart!

The ER doctors said to keep an eye on her, that she might have trouble breathing with all the swelling so I have her sleeping next to me on an air mattress in the living room.

I'm not able to sleep because I'm listening to every sound that she makes so I figured since I'm up at 3 am, I might as well catch up on some blogging!

On one of the few days that we were all relatively well, we took a trip to the zoo with our friends. Apparently, right at about 10am is the perfect time to visit the zoo.

All of the animals are getting fed or are about to be fed and are up walking around in anticipation.

We saw a ton of animals that we normally don't get a few good view of.

Christmas Eve was spent with my dad's side of the family...it's tradition.

I got this awesome shot of all of the "little" kids.

They're not so little anymore!

We took a TON of photos.

Here's a pose that my mom requested.

My parents with their children. The spouses of their children. And the grandchildren.

I thought I had loaded the pics from Christmas day on my computer but I guess not.

Imagine us in our pjs and that's what a lot of the pictures look like.

Only a couple of more days until the new year. Here's hoping everyone is well at our house...

Flashback Friday.

2010-12-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of sad Maylyn from 2007.

And today she looked an awful lot like this.

My poor baby is so sick right now.

She has pneumonia, an ear infection, and the flu!

Maylyn's all about going big or going home apparently.

Hopefully this sickness leaves our house before Christmas!

Performance.

2010-12-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Maylyn's Kindergarten Holiday Program was this evening.

All of the kids were so cute and Maylyn did such a great job

on her speaking part.

She was in the back so it was kind of hard to get a good picture...

The camera wasn't my best friend tonight, but she still looks adorable.

I'm so proud of her!!

Funnies.

2010-12-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

For a couple of days there it was getting kind of cold.

(It's 80 degrees today, what the heck?!)

Anyway, I had asked the Husband if he could find our small heater

so I could put it in the bathroom. I really hate getting up when

it's still dark out and it's freaking freezing when you

step out of the shower. Hence the heater.

Well, it got donated. So he went to Walmart and bought an oscillating one.

It comes with a remote too which is nice.

He's showing me how it works and the girls came in to check it out.

Not realizing that it came with a remote, the Husband told them to wave their hands in

front of it and the heater would turn on.

They start waving their hands in front of it and he uses the remote to turn it on.

The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever! Ha, ha!

Then he told them to tap it three times and the heater would turn off.

They do it and he turns it off by remote again without them noticing.

So, so funny. I was just standing there cracking up.

A couple days later, Maylyn's in my bathroom with me

waving her hands in front of the heater and tapping it

saying, "Why won't this thing turn on?"

Oh man, I couldn't stop laughing!

They still don't know that there's a remote... :)

Flashback Friday.

2010-12-10T22:08:00.001-07:00

I can't remember when this picture was taken...

Maylyn looks about a year old so I think it was 2006.

They were up in Payson at my grandparent's house.

I love how much they love each other. :)

Forgive me for being such a blog slacker.

Stuff happens and I think, "I've gotta blog about that!"

And then I forget.

I blame the holidays.

Expect a recap soon!

Glasses.

2010-12-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

My baby got glasses!

They seem like they might be a little bit big,

I think I'll take her back to the store to see what they can do for us.

But in the meantime, I think she looks adorable!

Flashback Friday.

2010-12-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love these pictures.

They're from 2006 when we took the kids to Disneyland for the first time.

Maylyn was only 10 months old.

Don't you just love Kaeleigh's hair? :)

Thanksgiving.

2010-11-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful.

Absolutely my favorite holiday.

Kaeleigh lost her first tooth that morning.

I was going to post a picture but there's blood and it just looks nasty.

So I'll just tell you about it instead.

The Husband tied some thread around the tooth and had Maylyn pull it out!

Kaeleigh got a visit from the tooth fairy and was pretty jazzed about it.

We spent the holiday at my parent's house and I was so excited because my sister was able to come down for the day.

With my siblings.

I shopped my first Black Friday this year.

That was an experience let me tell you!

My friend Liz and I started at midnight and finished up by 5am.

The lines were long and the people were crazy, and other than being exhausted the next day it wasn't too bad.

We spent today at the zoo with a couple of friends and it was the perfect day for it.

Not too busy and the weather was awesome!

We spent 4 hours there!

I'm so glad that I have one more day off before it's back to work on Monday.

Click to enlarge this pic. You can see Maylyn giving me her stink face.

I can't wait for her to be a teenager.

Perfect dismount and landing. :)

With all the fun we've been having, I missed Flashback Friday!

I think tomorrow may be a Flashback Sunday if I can find some good Thanksgiving pictures of the kiddos.

Turkey Bowling.

2010-11-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

via

Yesterday at school it was the Annual Turkey Trot and Turkey Bowling.

One thing I love about working at the school is being able to see the girls participating in these activities. It's so much fun!

I don't know if you're familiar with Turkey Bowling (I wasn't)

But you bowl with a frozen turkey in place of a bowling ball.

Kids were randomly selected from each class

and Kaeleigh was picked!

I wish I had known so I could have brought my camera...

She did awesome!

Kaeleigh knocked down 7 pins.

I was actually really surprised that she went up at all,

she's so shy. I figured that getting up in front of half the school to bowl with

a turkey might cause a big case of stage fright but she proved me wrong.

It was adorable.

She talked about it for the rest of the afternoon.

Flashback Friday.

2010-11-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

July 2005.

Maylyn was just over a month old and so chunky!

I love their matching outfits.

Goob.

2010-11-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Maylyn's class had to write this sentence and fill in the blank:

"My mom is _____."

And this is what Maylyn wrote:

For those of you that aren't familiar, goob means 'fine.'

Hee, hee. I love Maylyn.

Seventh.

2010-11-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Kaeleigh is seven years old today.

When I look back through the pictures of her past birthdays,

I can't believe just how fast time has gone by...

The day she was born.

Her first birthday.

Her second birthday.

Third birthday.

Fourth birthday.

Fifth birthday.

Sixth birthday.

On November 15, 2003, Kaeleigh was born at 1:02pm weighing 6lbs 14 ounces.

At 7 years old, she weighs in at 50lbs!

She loves:

to read. Like constantly.
to write in her journal
her sister
to help me cook
school
her best friends, Shayla and Macee
sing
dance her "hip hop" :)

She's such a sweetheart. I'm so lucky to be her mom.

Happy Birthday Kaeleigh! We love you!

Sleep over.

2010-11-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last night Kaeleigh got to have her first sleep over for her birthday.

She invited two friends, only one could come but it turned out to be the perfect number of kids for me to handle. :)

Kaeleigh picked what we were having for dinner and which movie to rent.

We made some "Fairy Food" for the occasion.

Kaeleigh has a Fairy Cookbook she got from my mom and we made our own version of the recipe.

Popcorn, pretzel sticks, pink Whoppers, mini marshmallows, white chocolate chips, and craisins.

And then I put it into cute take-out boxes.

I also painted all of their nails to look like lady bugs.

Kaeleigh showing off her lady bug nails.

After watching the movie, we blew up our air mattress and they all went to sleep.

(After a lot of giggling and whispering.)

I had purchased some Build-a Bear kits from Michaels for the kids to make but it turned out to be way too complicated for them so I built the bears for them.

Truth be told, it was complicated for me too but they turned out okay and the kids loved them!

They insisted on taking a silly picture.

Check back tomorrow for Kaeleigh's birthday post!

Flashback Friday.

2010-11-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago I was looking like this...

Whoa.

That's a big belly!

Kaeleigh's 7th birthday is in 3 days.

I feel so old!

Turkey.

2010-11-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Every year the kid's school does a Family Turkey Project.

Last year I went out and bought feathers and glitter and rhinestones for Kaeleigh to decorate her turkey. It was very girlie.

This year we were more thrifty and used just what we had at home.

We used:

Coco puffs, rotini pasta, Kix cereal, Smarties, and Skittles.

(Getting rid of that Halloween candy! Woo hoo!)

Kaeleigh was very proud of her idea to use red Skittles for the turkey's wattle.

Didn't it turn out great?

Afterward they tried to talk me into eating the candy that wasn't used...

They are so my kids. :)

Wordless Wednesday.

2010-11-10T17:17:00.002-07:00

Flashback Friday.

2010-11-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

We went to a wedding back in 2006 and these are some of my favorite pictures from that night...

Halloween.

2010-11-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

With Halloween on a Sunday this year,

I wasn't sure if people would actually be trick-or-treating.

(Who makes the rules anyway?)

But we went over to my aunt's house for a couple hours so that the kids could trick-or-treat with their cousins.

Kaeleigh, Cameron, Maylyn

The girls were fairies this year and Kaeleigh really wanted face paint so I tried to be creative.

I've never painted their faces before but I think it turned out awesome!

The kids got so much candy that Maylyn couldn't carry her bucket anymore.

I had to carry it between houses and then she would take it up to the doors and get more candy. It was hilarious.

They're already talking about next year.

On another note, today is my friend Jill's birthday!

Hop on over to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday!

Potato Head.

2010-10-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Halloween Parade at school.

My friend Liz, one of the other aides in our class, and I decided to make a costume that the kids would recognize.

So we were Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head!

We got all of the supplies from Michaels and made the shirts.

All of the pieces were attached with Velcro so they could be taken off and moved around just like the Mr. Potato Head toy.

It was awesome and everyone loved them.

Including the guy at the Wendy's drive thru at lunch who asked me for my shirt. LOL

Kaeleigh and Maylyn are going to be fairies.

Here's Kaeleigh walking in the parade.

I wasn't able to get a picture of Maylyn but she looked super cute.

They are so excited for tomorrow!

Flashback Friday. Halloween Edition.

2010-10-29T08:56:00.001-07:00

By far, my favorite Halloween with the kids was in 2006.

I got a killer deal at Savers that year and their costumes were awesome!

Kaeleigh was The Little Mermaid and Maylyn was a monkey.

This would be the best picture if it wasn't blurry...but you get the idea.

Aren't they adorable?!

They're both pretty excited to be able to wear their costumes to school today.

There's going to be a Halloween Parade and I'll be in costume too!

Stay tuned for pics!

Spiders.

2010-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

We had some fun this afternoon with our after-school snack.

You can have fun too!

All you need are these four items to make Spiders:

1. Oreos

2. Pretzels (enough for 8 legs per spider)

3. M&Ms for eyes

4. Frosting (to hold the eyes in place)

Super easy and the kids loved it!

Flashback...Saturday?

2010-10-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

I missed Flashback Friday!

This week has been crazy busy.

We'll do Flashback Saturday instead.

I thought that since Halloween is coming up,

I'd look for some old dress up pictures of the girls.

This isn't Halloween.

Just a regular day playing dress up...with some regular sweet little girls. :)

Happy Weekend!

Sigh.

2010-10-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said that Kaeleigh had taken her hair clips out and fixed them herself on picture day?

Well we got the pictures back...

Apparently they did take Maylyn's class pictures after recess.

It doesn't even look like I brushed their hair before sending them to school!

Now, I'm torn.

Do I have them do retakes or just stick with what I've got?

I think I need to find out what time of day the retakes are done because I could just end up with more messy-haired pictures!

*Sigh*

Birthday.

2010-10-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the Husband's birthday!

Happy Birthday babe!

We love you!

Woods Canyon.

2010-10-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

We went camping this weekend, back up to Woods Canyon Lake and it was gorgeous!

It got down to about 49 degrees at night.

Fair warning, picture overload!

Fishing for a frisbie.

Watching the fishing.

They got it!

My campfire expert.

Being crafty in the woods. Painting pumpkins.

On the lake!

Celebrating the Husband's birthday with a pumpkin pie.

Golfing.

Maylyn was in Heaven!!

Such a fun trip, we can't wait to go again!