THE HARRIS FAMILY

2010 Flashback

2010-12-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that it has been an ENTIRE year since baby Zane was born! This year has gone by so quickly that I felt the need to think back on everything that has happened over this past year.

Jan. 2010 ~ Welcoming baby Zane to the family and trying to make it to all of those doctors appointments that come along with having a new baby. My mom and dad were here, staying with Aunt Virgina for several months. We got reconnected with all the Randall family -- yay!! Ben, Joanna (Pregnant with Micah), Elijah, and Jonah came to meet the baby for the first time. We have not seen them since January but they are planning to move back to AZ very soon, and we are so excited!!

Feb. 2010 ~ Zack's birthday was on Super Bowl Sunday! My little football boy!! According to my calendar, I must have been very into the Bachelor. I have it written down every Monday so I wouldn't forget to watch ... ha ha ha! Still enjoying my maternity leave.

Mar. 2010 ~ Kaelyn turned 8 years old!! Where did the last 8 years go?? I went back to work on the 1st after having 12 weeks off. My cousin, Kelli, offered to watch the baby for me which was the hugest blessing to Zane and our family. I was going through some very difficult times at work and it was such an amazing blessing not to have to worry about finding a daycare. My mom and dad went back to Indiana on the 10th of March. We are really missing them and looking forward to seeing them back in AZ really soon. Their house if for sale and its just a matter of time now! Can't wait. Baby Micah was born on St. Patricks Day! I still have not met him. I'll meet him for the first time in January ~ yay!! Soccer season started up this month for both Kaelyn and Zack. And finally, my lovely sister Jill and Caleb came out to visit me for a week! It was so nice to have her, but I was working while she was here.. ugh!

Apr 2010 ~ Mike turned 37 and I turned 33! Oldies!!!! Jill and Caleb were here to celebrate Easter with us at Polly's house. More difficult stuff going on at work, but I'm trusting God with all I have and holding on to the promise that His plans for me are good. Now that I'm on the other side of that "mountain" I have an amazing testimony.

May 2010 ~ School is out for Kaelyn & Zack. My CCS journey comes to an end, and we are looking forward to a great summer.

June 2010 ~ I was hired on with the Alhambra Elementary School District which as turned out to be a dream come true. I love everything about my job! I am confident that God has put me exactly where he wants me. Kaelyn attended Day Camp at Pure Heart Christian Fellowship (our church) for a week. Lots of good times!! We went to the Marriott for Father's Day! We had a blast, thanks Darcie! I took a summer Bible study at my church on the book of Esther. Good stuff! We went to Slide Rock for the first time with my cousin Jenny, her kids, her nephew, and mother-in-law.

July 2010 ~ Gramma Melody came for a visit. I don't know how she always manages to come for a visit and leave without me getting any pictures of her ... no more, I tell you!! The kids and I drove to California to visit my friend Stacie for a couple days. I started New Hire training classes (SFA reading program) the last week of July while Mike and the kids went to California for a week with Polly and Marlon. They got to stay in an amazing beach house and have the time of their lives. They made some great memories and I am so thankful that they were able to go (even though Zane and I had to stay home for my training).

Aug. 2010 ~ Kaelyn and Zack go back to school. Kaelyn's first day of 3rd grade and Zack's first day of Kindergarten. My amazing friend, Valerie, starts watching Zane for me during the day while I work. It has been such a blessing to us to have Valerie help take care of our baby boy. He is the happiest baby you could ever meet (SERIOUSLY) and I know that she contributes a lot to his happy little personality. I hope God blesses her tremendously for the gift she has given to us. Darcie turns 30 years old and we celebrate in Scottsdale .. still thinking about that restaurant .. delish!! Mastro's City Hall is outstanding!

Sept. 2010 ~ Kelli had a Labor Day BBQ ... we always have so much fun at her house. Got to reconnect with more cousins ... such an amazing thing ... family!! Kaelyn and Zack started Awana (church group) and I started another Bible study on Wednesday nights. In the moms group we worked through a book called Tender Mercies. It was fantastic! I would highly recommend it for mothers. Mike got to go to a Raiders game (his fave team)!

Oct. 2010 ~ Lots of "busy" stuff going on this month. On Halloween Kaelyn dressed up like a soldier girl and Zack was Batman. I have pictures but I never posted them. My friend Valerie and her son came over, so did Polly, Marlon, Jenna, Pipe, and McKenna. Zack fell into a cactus while we were trick-or-treating. Poor thing! Daddy took him home to get the needles out while the rest of us finished trick-or-treating (which sounds kinda mean now ... why didn't we wait for Zack ... gross!!!) Zack met back up with us a few minutes later with a slight limp. Poor thing!

Nov. 2010 ~ JILL MOVED BACK TO ARIZONA ... need I say more???? She moved in down the street from me. We see her practically every single day (sometimes more than once a day). I can't even express how happy we are that the Wilson's are back in AZ! I wish all my siblings lived within a mile radius of me. Thanksgiving was great! We celebrated at Polly's house with her family, her dad and his wife, Melody's family, the Wilson's, and my friends Valerie and Rocco. So much food. So much fun. So much family! YES!!!

Dec. 2010 ~ Mike went out of town for work for a couple days. Lots of fun getting reading for Christmas at school and home! Zane turned 1 on Saturday and we went to Zoo Lights. Ohh, did I mention Zane is also walking? Yep, its true! AND, my e-mails from Baby Center now read "Your toddler" instead of "Your baby" sniff sniff. Looking forward to Christmas Eve with my side of the family and Christmas Day with Mike's side of the family. Oooohhh, and don't forget our trip to Flagstaff that's coming up. Yeah!!! Come on 2011, show us what you've got!!

Visit with Cousins and Mo Nay Nay Mo Nay Nay

2010-07-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks Mike's mom has been in town. Unfortunately, I have been HORRIBLE about taking pictures. Hopefully she will send me some of the pictures that she took while she was here to add to my collection. In addition to his mama being here, his sister's kids (Skyler & Logan) also flew in. Here are a few pictures that I did manage to take over the last few weeks. I realized after putting the pictures up that "Nay Nay" is getting way more attention from the camera than the other kids. Well ... he is just a baby:-)

Skyler LOVE LOVE LOVES baby Zane. She has been such a great helper with the baby. This is while we were at the Marriott.

Riding from the Canyon Villas to the resort pool. So many pools to swim in .. so little time.

Skyler carried Zane all the way from the bus to the pool. It was FAR away ... did I mention Zane weighs 23 pounds??? I can't believe she was able do carry him that far!!

My sister, Darcie, and our friends Jayson, Abby, and daughter Skylar, joined us at the Marriott yesterday for swim and lazy river.

More Skyler and Nay Nay ~ she barely put him down yesterday

Aunt Darcie w/ the kids

Pretty 3rd grade Kaelyn

Mo Nay Nay Mo Nay Nay

Polly, Skyler and Nay Nay

Some cousins playing wii

Tomorrow we are doing homemade Glamour shots with the girl cousins.

Stay tuned ..... he he he!

(Okay the baby is crying at me ... gotta go ... no time to edit. Enjoy!!)

Quote

2010-07-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
~Teddy Roosevelt

Oh really??

2010-06-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Zack asked me how to spell "haft". I asked him to say it in a sentence because I wasn't' sure what word he was saying. He said, "I haft to do something." I explained to him that it was actually two separate words "have" & "to" and he was pronouncing it wrong. He argued with me about whether or not "haft" was a word for a while. I told him that lots of people talk fast and say "haft" but if you were writing it down it's two words - have & to. To that he said, "mom you just don't understand". I assured him that I DO understand and he was just saying the words wrong just like when he says "duspossed to" instead of "supposed to" ... which I correct on a regular basis. Then he started to cry and said "I just want to know how to spell haft". To that I replied .. "h-a-f-t but its really not a word". Zack started crying in frustration. He truly thought I just didn't understand him. He said, "Mommy .. It's like .. I HAFT to go somewhere" ... Again, I tried to tell him that it wasn't HAFT. He went back to the computer and I heard what sounded like a swift punch to the keyboard. I called him out to the living room. His face was red with frustration ... I asked, "did you just punch the computer?" He said, "yeah, but haft is a word ... like, I want haft the apple." I wasn't about to start again. I told him "okay, but you don't get to use the computer anymore since you punched it."

On a happy note:

Kaelyn is going to Day Camp at church this week. She is making some new friends and learning lots about Jesus! She is having a lot of fun! It's from 830 to 430 all week long!

Zack is doing famously in swimming lessons! He is getting to be a great swimmer! He has a crush on his swimming instructor. He talks about her all day long. He told me yesterday that if "Miss Krislyn was my swimming teacher I would loooooooooooove her."

Zane is getting super active! He is rolling over like crazy. He's sitting up and starting to show beginning signs of crawling!

Mike is working hard, as usual:-) We have a surprise Father's Day weekend planned for him next weekend. I can't believe Kaelyn is keeping it a secret. I knew better than to tell Zacky:-)

I am starting a new Bible Study tonight. I don't know anyone else that signed up but I have really missed going this year so I decided to sign up solo. The study is on Esther.

Yuck!

2010-05-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

Several months ago there was a weird comment left on my blog in what appeared to be Chinese. I was a bit annoyed at the time but didn't think much of it. I thought maybe someone accidentally posted a comment ... it sounds weird now but that's what I thought at the time. Recently, another comment from the same weird address posted a comment. I clicked on the address and it took me to what looked like an inappropriate website. My heart started beating really fast and I quickly shut off my computer. I didn't see anything disturbing but I certainly didn't want the likes of that on my blog! I immediately put my blog on private so that nobody else would see these comments and get offended. I removed the option to leave comments (Jill you'll just have to FB or e-mail me), just in case my "rude comment leaver" had plans to visit me again.

Anyway ... I got really mad at my blog over this little ordeal. I kinda don't like it anymore ... hmmm, perhaps we need counseling. I think I will change the background to see if that helps:-) I mean its not my blog's fault .... I think I just need a little more time .. ha ha ha! (But actually I'm serious.)

Kitty Kat Kaelyn Turned 8!!!

2010-03-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Birthday Kaelyn!

Kaelyn's birthday was on March 12th (I am just a bit late in blogging about it). We had lots of fun celebrating. For the 2nd year in a row Darcie took birthday treats into Kaelyn's classroom at the end of the day. Unfortunately being a teacher puts a damper on visiting my own kids' classrooms. It's a lot more fun for them with Aunt Darcie anyway:-) She took the kids to Burger King until I got off work. Kaelyn had a friend come home from school with her for a slumber party. I have not allowed her to have sleep overs until now. I figure if I let her do everything at a young age then what will she be wanting to do at 12? So for now, she can have friends spend the night here ... after a few more birthdays we'll see about her sleeping over at a friends house:-) I took the girls ice skating at Polar Ice and they actually did a really good job skating around. Kaelyn chose to go to IHOP in the morning for breakfast.

Kaelyn (Kitty Kat),

What a blessed mommy I am to have such a special daughter! There are many things that I love about you but, my favorite thing is your heart for people. I LOVE to watch you with your brothers, your daddy, your grampy, your grammy, your aunties, your uncles, your cousins and your friends! You have a special way of making other people feel SO special. You have such a gentle spirit but at the same time you are without a doubt a natural leader. I watch you play with your friends and I listen to you talk on the phone and can hardly believe how wise you are at the age of 8! You carry on long conversations with your grandparents and aunts and uncles. They are always amazed by your ability to have such deep conversations. You have always made it a point to form special relationships with each family member. You keep in touch with our extended family by phone, email, and to my surprise , you are even google chatting with your uncle Ben in Indiana!! It is so important to you to be close with your relatives and I love that about you!!

You are a great big sister to Zack! I am proud to the point of tears at the tender way that you take care of him and look out for him. I was watching you guys through my bedroom window one day. You, 3 of your friends, and Zack were playing duck-duck-goose. I watched several rounds of the game and Zack was not getting picked to be the "goose". You noticed this immediately and every single time you got picked you picked your brother. As I type this, the memory brings tears to my eyes because you are just THAT SWEET! When you get invited to a friends house, you always ask if Zack can come too. You truly want him to do everything with you. I know as Zane grows bigger and bigger you will be just as sweet to him!

I am amazed that you already have the gift of listening to the Holy Spirit. Many times you have come home from school or play and told me that you "didn't think that Jesus would want me to do that". One time you told me that some girls were "sexy dancing" at school and you "didn't think Jesus would want me to do that". Then you asked me what "sexy" meant. I was so proud of you because even though you didn't even know what "sexy" meant, you listened to the Still Small Voice inside of you. You weren't sure WHY you shouldn't do it... you just responded to the feeling inside of you! If only everyone could be like you!!

Mommy and daddy could have never imagined how much you would change our lives! When you were born 8 years ago EVERYTHING changed. You have challenged us to be better people for the simple fact that you deserve it! You were such a good baby and you always wanted to be held. As you grow you are becoming more and more independent which is both exciting and scary. Exciting because you are so much fun to watch grow into the person that God created you to be. Scary because the last 8 years have flown by and you are not a baby who depends on us anymore! I know that as you grow up you will always make good choices.

Thank you for coming into our lives and changing us forever! You are our only daughter and hold a special place in our hearts yesterday, today, and forever! I pray that you will always make God a priority in your life and your heart for others will grow and grow. I look forward to what the future has in store for your life.

Love,

Mommy

Some facts/faves about Kaelyn:

*Color - orange

*Song - So What

*Best Friend - Emma

*Hobby - play outside

*TV Show - Fan Boy and Chum Chum

*Likes to play Club Penguin

*Likes to talk on the phone

*Plays soccer

*Loves her family

*Loves her teacher

*Loves school

*Loves drawing

*Loves to write stories

*Has written many books

*SUPER smart

*SUPER kind

*Loves playing with brothers

**LOVES TO PULL FACES (amazing how such a pretty girl can look so so .... well, ugly I guess)

*Nicknames: Kitty Kat, Smelly (because you smell so GOOD), Smelly-Jelly-Belly, Dootie, KaelyBee, Sissy, Dit, and Sissy Sissy Sue, I love you!

Beth Moore: Good Stuff!!

2010-03-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Beth Moore is my absolute favorite Bible study teacher! I have taken several of her in depth Bible studies at church and they have absolutely changed my live. I was looking through my old Breaking Free study guide and felt compelled to type some of the things that really spoke to me when I was taking the study and also as I look back through my notes today:

1. Christ was like a root out of dry ground so we could be a planting of the Lord.
2. Christ's beauty was veiled so ours could be revealed.
3. Christ was despised and rejected so we could be FAVORED and ACCEPTED.
4. Christ became a man of sorrows so we could become people of gladness.
5. Christ was oppressed and imprisoned so we could be released from prison.
6. Christ was crushed by our iniquities so we could become His righteouness.
7. Christ suffered so that God could be satisfied and we couuld be saved. This is the GOOD NEWS preached to the poor!
8. Christ remained silent so we could proclaim His great salvation.

EQUATIONS THAT TOTAL LIBERTY

* Environmental influences + experiential influences = My personal truth
* My Truth + 0 = Imcompletion
* My Truth + Satan's lies = captivity
* God's truth > My Truth
* My Truth + God's Truth = FREEDOM

How can we know this awesome God??
1. Through the study of God's word!
2. Through the lifestyle practice of prayer!

** Fill in the blanks with your name:-)

My child, _____, I loved you before you were born. I knit you in your mother's womb and knew what your first and last words would be. I knew every difficulty you, ___________, would face. I suffered each one with you. Even the ones you didn't suffer with Me. I had a plan for your life before you were born. The plan has not changed, _________, no matter what has happened or what you have done. You see, I already knew all things concerning you before I formed you. I would never allow any hurt to come into your life that I could not use for eternity, _________. Will you let Me? Your truth is incomplete unless you view it against the backdrop of My Truth. Your story, ___________, will forever remain incomplete ... until you let Me do what only I can do with your hurt. Let Me perfect that which concerns you.

I remain,

Your Faithful Father

Happy 5th Birthday Zack!

2010-02-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

Zack turned 5 on Super Bowl Sunday! He has been anxiously awaiting his 5th birthday and was sure that he would wake up bigger on his special day! He has a couple of good pals at school that turned 5 before he did so we were counting down the days until he could join the ranks of the other 5 year olds. Zack got to spend his "Birthday Eve" with Aunt Darcie, along with his sister and cousin Elijah (one of his favorite things to do). They had a great time!! Then we celebrated Zack's birthday at Aunt Polly's house along with the Super Bowl party.

I remember 5 years ago on February 6, 2005 daddy and I were at a Super Bowl party. You were in my tummy still and 1 day overdue. We were waiting for you and couldn't wait to meet you. Daddy kept teasing me that if you were born on the Super Bowl we would have to name you after the Super Bowl MVP. I didn't like the thought of that one single bit since I have had the name Zack picked out since I was a very little girl. I was hoping that you would stay in my tummy for one more day to avoid being named Deion or Branch (2005 MVP). As the obedient little guy that you have grown up to be, you cooperated with me and waited until the following day to make your grand entrance into this world. When you were born the nurse at the hospital said, "there is nothing little about this baby". You weighed in at a whopping 10.4!! I was so proud to have such a big strong baby boy. You had bright red hair when you were born but it lightened up a lot to the strawberry blond color that it is now. I am declaring it now ... in about 20 years I think you are going to be the Super Bowl MVP yourself (what a great b-day present for yourself)!!!!

You were such a wonderful baby ... always happy and content no matter what we were doing.

Dear Zacky,

I love you SO much!! I am so happy that I get to be your mommy. You are the sweetest little boy in so many ways. You absolutely love your sister and would do anything for her. You guys are the best of friends. You are such a great big brother and love to smooch your baby brother until he can't take it anymore:-) Your teachers always tell me what a great kid you are and how sweet you are to the other kids. I can't believe how well you are reading BEFORE you even start kindergarten! You are as smart as they come!! Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you. You are such a great snuggler!! I love that you are always willing to sit on my lap and snuggle with me.

I love that even though your friends "don't think love is cool" that you still give me a hug and kiss in the car when I take you to school. You have such a sweet heart and hilarious sense of humor. You can make the entire family laugh uncontrollably when you imitate things people say, or how they act, or with your amazing dancing skills. You have so many wonderful things inside of you and I promise that I will do my best to nurture your God given talents and abilities and help you discover who God created you to be.

No matter how big you get you will always be Mommy's Little Zacky!

Love you so much my sweet boy!

Love Mommy

Pack Rat

2010-01-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

Kaelyn has always been such a pack rat. She never wants to throw anything away or donate any of her old toys or clothes. Here are some of the examples of odd things she has BEGGED (even cried) to keep:

1. The plastic bag that her bedding came in.
2. EVERYTHING that she brings home from school.
3. ALL of her coloring pages from home.
4. Once I cut the bottoms off of my pants because they were too long. She pleaded with me to keep the scraps of material off the bottom.
5. She keeps her old underwear and uses them as dresses for her Barbies.
6. Candy containers
7. Box containers
8. She uses shoes that don't fit for Barbie cars.

She regularly finds items that I have put into the trash when she wasn't around. When she finds such items she will get them out of the trash can, come to me with the item (hand on hip), and request and explanation as to how I could possibly throw such a treasure away. Ha ha ha! It almost feels like I am in trouble as I scramble for an explanation that won't break her heart. Sorry to say, most of the time I just play stupid and act as though I have no idea how an old shoe box (or whatever else it may be) found its way into the trash. To which she would respond, "Mommy, I know you put it in there." I have gotten better in my old age! Now I either bury the item in the trash can or take it to the outside trash.

Usually I pick my battles with her "special condition" and throw things away when she is next door at the neighbors house. Yesterday I was shocked to see that her condition actually was getting carried over into school. Apparently her teacher had just used the last Clorox wipe and was getting ready to throw the plastic cylinder container away. Kaelyn immediately came to the container's rescue! She asked her teacher to please let her keep the container to use to put her small toys in. Her teacher said she could have it but needed to rinse it out first. She was so excited to reveal her treasure when she got home yesterday. You would have thought she had just won the lottery!

Love you Kaelyn!

Baby Zane!

2010-01-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Zane William Harris

December 18, 2009

9 lbs. 3 oz.

I am so excited that our baby Zane is finally here! He is an awesome little guy and we are all totally in love with him. He is a very mild tempered baby, just like Kaelyn and Zack were, and sleeps most of the time so far. We thought that after 2 good babies were were sure to get a pistol but to our surprise we have another sweet little angel! I have lots of pictures to post but here are some of the pictures from when we first brought him home.

Zacky's & Kaelyn's first time holding their baby brother.

Seeing the baby for the first time.

Here are a couple pictures of Zack and Kaelyn before Zane dominates the rest of the post. One of their favorite things to do is take pictures of each other posing around the house. Here are a few of the shots they captured! I'm not sure what's up w/ the props in Kaelyn's pictures but maybe she can be a Price is Right model when she grows up .. ha ha! Kaelyn's teacher asked her, "Does your mom have you practice smiling at home because you always smile so nicely in pictures?" To that all I can say is .. what's wrong w/ having your kids practice smile? And embarrassingly, I have to admit we do practice smile at home while snapping pictures and immediately checking the camera screen for the results.

Okay .... let's talk baby:-)

I was originally scheduled to have the baby on Dec. 21st. The doctor said that baby was getting a bit large and didn't want to risk any complications in the delivery room. When I went in for my doctor's appointment on the 17th, the nurse said I was dilated to 5 and should probably go straight to the hospital since I have a history of delivering babies in under an hour:-) Don't be jeolous!! I told the nurse that I had not given my students at school their Christmas presents yet and asked could I please do that first. She said it was my choice. I rushed back to school and gave my little treasures their gifts and said I'd seem them later. I had a couple kids that were so sad and cried really hard ... it really blessed my heart! How sweet they are in 1st grade!! I didn't want to admit it to the nurse but I also had to rush to Babies R Us to buy a car seat .. ha ha! I was planning to get one over the weekend, but I guess God had other plans. When I called the hospital to let them know I was coming they said all the beds were full and I'd probably end up in a triage room. They said I would wait until I went into active labor or come in the next morning. I ended up going to the hospital at about 8am on Friday (fully thinking I would not make it through the night). I opted for an epidural this time (first two kids were born w/o one .... what was I thinking???) and relaxed in bed until it was time to push. I really liked the epidural for taking away the labor pains, but I HATE HATE HATED not having control over my legs. I felt ... I don't know ... kinda panicky. It was agonizing for me while I waited to get my legs back!!! I guess it comes with being somewhat of a controlling person:-)

Mr. Smooshy face!

Good Morning Baby!

PS - Mike, my doctor, and I had bets going on how much Zane would weigh in at .... I would like to state for the record that I guessed EXACTLY right ... right down to the ounce! 9 lbs 3 oz! My logic ... Kaelyn was 8.2 .... Zack was 10.4 so naturally Zane would have to be 9.3, right in the middle!

A few hours before Zane was born.

Here are some pictures of my baby shower (close friends and family). The girls at work threw one for me too -- SO SWEET -- but I don't have the pictures yet.

My little family! Actually I should say my Big Fat Greek Family ... Mike said that we are now officially "inconvenient" for people to invite over for dinner anymore because there are 5 of us. But for those of you considering it ... don't worry, our kids eat off the floor so they don't need space at the dinner table! Ha ha ha ... just kidding!

Good Friends .. Jenna, Mike, and McKenna

Sister Darcie and Kaelyn

Good Friends Bryce, Missy, and Trenton

Oops ... just deleted their picture! Sorry! ... they are a really handsome couple .. ha ha! I will try to post it later ....

A Good Dream

2009-12-13T16:55:00.001-08:00

This morning Zack woke up crying. When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I had a really GOOD dream". I snuggled him up to me and told him I was so sorry that he had a bad dream. In the saddest little voice, he said "it wasn't a bad dream, it was a good dream". To which I replied, "then why are you crying"? He said that in his dream he had lots of dogs with "smooth paws" and "smooth fur" that could talk to him. Then he started crying harder saying that he wants those dogs in real life. Poor Zacky:-)

See ya later Warner Family!

2009-12-06T11:44:00.001-08:00

My friend Stacie's husband is in the Air Force and he got orders to Alabama! They leave next weekend so we got together on Saturday so that we could see them before they left. The kids had fun playing and, as usual, Stacie and I enjoyed chatting for several hours. I will miss her and her family but I know we will see them soon!

Here are Kaelyn, Mia, and Zack

Kaelyn and Mia

(Sorry to post this picture Kaelyn, but Mia looked really cute)

All 4 kids - Zack, Ryen, Mia & Kaelyn

It's weird that Stacie and I have 4 (almost 5) kids between the two of us!

We met about 10 years ago and had lots of wild/fun times together before starting our families. Now we are a couple of dedicated mommies ... who would have thought .. ha ha ha!!

NOTHING COULD BE BETTER:-)

We'll miss you Stacie! Can't wait to see you guys again!

Family Fun Night

2009-12-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Kaelyn's school hosted a Family Fun Night. We took some pillows, blankets, and lawn chairs to the school's cafeteria to watch the movie Polar Express. The kids did not really get into the movie, but they sure enjoyed the friends, hot cocoa, candy, cookies, face painting, and pictures with Santa. We had a good time, here are the pictures that I took:

This is our little next door neighbor Jenna with the kids.

Boys Camping Trip

2009-11-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Mike and Zack went on their first camping trip last weekend. They had a really good time with some of our family and friends. Zack has been talking about the camping trip all week because he had so much fun with the boys (he also seems to enjoy rubbing it in Kaelyn's face). Here are the pictures that Mike took while they were camping.

Here are Zack and the 2 other little boys that went camping with them. These 2 boys are Paul's kids (Mike's high school buddy). Zack really enjoyed playing with them.

The boats
Camp

Smores!

Zack shooting his first BB gun (very little power on this one:-)

Exploring w/ flashlights

Fishing

Zack had just met the boys ... Mike said he had to stare at them for a while before they became friends. This is Zack staring them down.

Zacky

Mike and Zack in the water.

Zack diving/belly flopping off the boat into the water. Zacky was the only little guy to get into the water (such a brave/tuff little man)!

Uncle Marlon, Zack, and Carson

Kaelyn and I stayed home and had a fun girls day. I didn't get any pictures of our day because Mike had the camera. We went to a place called Color Me Mine to paint, then we went shopping at several different places, out to dinner, and ended the night with a movie that we rented from Blockbusters. The next morning we cooked French Toast for breakfast and made cupcakes for the boys when they came home.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

He had a good Halloween this year! Polly & Marlon came over to help pass out candy and see the kids in their costumes. Kaelyn was a Rock Star and Zack was Tomas the Train. In this first picture Polly is also sporting her Amy Winehouse wig .. it was so funny! At one point in the night (we were sitting in front of my house passing out the candy) a random/strange lady snapped a picture of Polly when she wasn't looking! We were cracking up!

Kaelyn is a Rock Star .. She's got her Rock Moves!

Me and Mike ... can you tell by the expression on my face that I am terrified of how fat I am going to look in the picture. That's my dilemma, even when I'm not prego, so now that I am 8 months along the insecurity has heightened:-)

Mr. Zacky!

Zack and Kaelyn

Mo Zacky!

Mo Happy Zacky!

Our Babies!

Kaelyn is really rocking out in this picture. She even performed a Motley Crew song for us last night. An old one that she has learned while riding in the car w/ daddy. Normally she is pretty shy about performing but the costume really brought out the rock star in her!

Pretty Kaelyn

(and btw .. those are the darn rock star fingernails that WOULD NOT come off!!)

Last Couple Days

2009-10-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend! Kaelyn had her first soccer game on Saturday morning. It was really fun to get out there and watch her play. On the way to the soccer game Kaelyn got worried, saying that she forgot her soccer ball. I told her that it was okay because they only needed to bring their individual balls to practice and you only need one ball for the game. To which she replied, "you only need one ball in soccer?" I knew were were in for a very cute game! Aside from the little spat between a couple parents on the sideline (one parent was being overly competitive for a 7 year old team and the other parent reminded her that the kids were only 7)the game was great.

Sunday we went on our first family bowling trip. Kids had fun .. so did Mike and I! Here are some of the pictures taken the last couple days:

Zack caught me celebrating my spare!

Mike teaching Kaelyn how to roll the ball - toilet paper style.
My Babies!
When does pulling faces stop?? I don't think I have been near Kaelyn in the last several months when she hasn't been pulling an annoying face at me. To make it even worse she is always sure to pull the faces about 1 inch from my face so that I get to experience her wonderful breath.

My Sweetness!

My Soccer Baby!

Kaelyn at the bowling alley

Zack strutting back to the table.

Kaelyn's team

Kaelyn the goalie

Random Stuff

2009-09-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a long time since I updated my blog and I blame it all on Facebook. Where blogging was my hobby ... facebook has taken over.

Here's a picture of my three kids and I ... Kaelyn is 7, Zack is 4 and Zane is about 26 weeks:-) We took this picture last weekend before going to a friend's birthday party.

Kaelyn has really been wanting the Taylor Swift CD. She and I went to Best Buy last night to get her very first CD (not including ones that I have bought for her .. baby CD's:-). She was super excited about getting her first CD. I felt like it was a sign that she is really growing up! Here's my baby proudly displaying her first CD.

This is long overdue, but here are a couple pictures of Kaelyn on her first day of 2nd grade. Sara (our neice) works at Kaelyn's school at the before/after school program. We had to get a shot with her too:-)

ITS A BOY!

2009-07-23T09:34:00.001-07:00

We went to the doctors office last Monday to find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl. The ultra sound tech greeted us by saying "so you are here to see if the baby will cooperate"? To which I promptly responded, "oh, the baby WILL cooperate". With all the anticipation, "not cooperating" was not an option for this little baby! Within a few seconds, she confirmed that we were having another baby boy. Mike was a quite proud of the fact that she was able to determine so quickly and with such ease that it was in fact a little guy. After leaving our appointment, he commented on how quickly she was able to find "it". Ha ha ha! He is such a BOY! And the best Daddy!

The fact that this little baby is going to be a boy is literally a dream come true for me. As a little girl, I always thought I would have three children AND I always imagined 2 little boys and 1 little girl. I think its pretty darn awesome that my reality lined up with what my childhood dreams were for my family. Now, I can't say that I could have ever imagined how stinkin cute my kids would turn out or how amazing my hubby would be ... but all I can do is thank God for blessing me with my wonderful hubby and amazing kiddos!

I have flashed forwarded a couple times to several years in the future and imagined having 3 big male athletes (Mike, Zack, & Baby) in the house. All I know is that Kaelyn and I will probably have to make a weekly pedi appointments together:-) Both "little" boys measuring in at 6ft. 3in. or above, just like their daddy. Lots of football games (players and cheerleader) and lots of good times! I am anxiously awaiting!!

Swimming

2009-07-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

The kids and I have been taking advantage of every connection we have to a swimming pool this summer. Hopefully this will be the last summer we have without our own backyard pool!

Missy told me that we could use her pool anytime we wanted this summer. They have an awesome neighborhood pool area complete with a huge tot facility. Little did Missy know we'd be taking full advantage of her offer! She isn't able to join us at the pool because the baby is too little to be in the sizzling AZ sun for longer than about 20 minutes. I invited my friend Amanda and her boys to join us in the pool on Friday. We had a good time, here are the pictures:

Kaelyn at the top of the water jungle gym

Kaelyn & Amanda's youngest boy Parker

Kaelyn posing - she LOVES getting her picture taken! Mommy take a picture of me .. Mommy take a picture of me ... Mommy take a picture of me.

Kaelyn

And what do you know .. Kaelyn again:-)

That's not Kaelyn posing is it???

Zack (also becoming quite the poser)

Zack and his buddy Carter

Zack

The jungle gym

Zacky wanting me to get a picture of him on each part of the play area

Kaelyn

Zack playing with someone else's pool toys.

Yep, our kids are total hams in front of the camera. I got tired of following them around taking the pictures they wanted me to take of them so I put my camera away so they'd go play with their friends. I wanted to get a group picture but forgot ... I keep forgetting to take out my camera these days!

Special Delivery!

2009-06-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Much to our surprise we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our third baby. I found out yesterday that I am 10 weeks along and the baby is due on December 31, 2009. A New Years Eve Baby!

I'm not sure how I dismissed all of the symptoms that I was experiencing and never once thought I could be pregnant. My face TOTALLY broke out, but I figured it was because I was stressed out from writing 20 student reports in 1 weekend. I was so tired when I came home from work that I would sit in the recliner and fall asleep sitting up, but I figured it was because my body was not accustomed to working. Irritability, check! All the sudden about 3 weeks ago I started feeling really sick, naturally I figured one of my little treasures from school exposed me to the Swine Flu or something ... I mean what would you think with all the crazy news channels??? The sickness lingered for 2 weeks before it occurred to me that I might want to take a pregnancy test. One Saturday when I was home alone, I decided to take one to rule out being pregnant. About 10 seconds later, PREGNANT appeared in the little window.

BBBBrrrrrring ..... Mike?

Mike: Yeah

Me: Ah, I just took a pregnancy test and it says that I am pregnant.

Mike: pause ... cool sweetie

Me: Okay I know this is a total shocker so I will call you back. I am going to take another test after I have to pee again.

Mike: okay call me back.

A little while later, I took the 2nd test and got my 2nd positive reading. Wow -- A BABY!! I called Mike back and we chatted for a while. I felt kinda bad for taking the test when he was at work but I really did not think it was going to be positive. Anyway, I made a doctors appointment, got an ultra sound and found out I was already 10 weeks along ... 25% of the way there!! AWESOME!!

We are all thinking the baby will be a boy but we would be delighted with a girl too! We will have to wait for another 8 weeks to find out. We can't think of 1 single name ... boy or girl ... that we agree on. At this point, I would settle for just feeling good.

My new doctor (the old one retried) has amazing technology in his office. Although the "take-home" picture is not very clear, the picture that I saw in the doctors office was AMAZING. I saw the little head, arms, and legs. I couldn't believe there was a little baby in there waiting to call me mommy:-) It's real .. very real now! We are super excited and can't wait to meet our little baby.

Happy Dertday!

2009-05-24T18:58:00.001-07:00

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY MOM!

WE WISH WE WERE WITH YOU!

Last Day of 1st Grade

2009-05-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that Kaelyn has completed 1st grade! It seems like she just barely started it! This year has gone by so quickly!!

Here's a couple pictures that Mike took before school on Thursday, May 21st.

Readers are Leaders!

2009-05-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn's first grade class did a Beary Good Reader program this year (They kept track of the books they read during the year.) Kaelyn did a great job, she LOVES reading! The goal for each student was to read 200 books by the end of the year. Most of the students did a fantastic job and hit the goal. In the entire 1st grade, only 2 students read over 500 books. Can you guess who one of them was ... that's right, our little Sweetheart. Sweetheart read 540 books!! We were so proud of her. She got a trophy with her name on it for her amazing accomplishment. She also got a shirt that he rocked yesterday! She was styling!! She really is a Beary Good Reader!! She got really shy when she accepted her award so I didn't get a picture of her, but we were definitely 2 of the proudest parents you could have ever seen sitting there in the front row admiring our little Beauty while she accepted her awards!

The other little guy that read over 500 books was one of Kaelyn's classmates. The two of them competed all year long to beat each other. The competition is what drove them to read so many books. Gotta love friendly competition:-) Kaelyn would come home and say .. Jason read 20 books, I have to read 20 books today. And then she would get to work. She was very determined.

Congratulations Smelly Bee, we are so proud of you!!! Readers are Leaders!!!

Invaded by Flies!

2009-05-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

I am not exactly sure what is going on .. but something stinks in Peoria! Many flies have felt free to take up residency in our home in the last couple days. The little pests have completely invaded our house, ruined my Mother's Day dinner, and just provoked me into a fight with one of them in the bathroom a few minutes ago (and believe me I was SO huge and SO ugly .. I caught a glimpse if my big self batting at the fly with a tight jaw and lips in the bathroom mirror)!

On Wednesday night I came home to find some TPT (Trailer Park Trash) strips hanging from our bathroom and kitchen ceiling. It was my first encounter with the strips or the fly problem for that matter. Mike said he came home from work and there were several flies in the house. If he decided to go to the store to purchase fly traps after getting home from work the problem must have been serious! His shopping trip included, not 1 but 2 fly swatters, several ceiling strips, and several window strips. For the record, the ceiling strips are SO embarrassing but its my job to support the hubby not question is fly trapping methods:-)

A couple of interesting facts have surfaced through our "fly dilemma": #1 Zack is a great fly swatter! He has already swatted several (last I knew it was 6) flies. I was shocked because I can't seem to swat a single one. Although the fraction of a percent Indian that runs in Mikes family does not show up in his skin color, it certainly does in his ability to sneak up on animals and take them down with one swoop! He's a natural hunter! I'm starting to actually believe Mike that there might be some Indian that runs in his family! Good thing .. I don't know what we'd do without Zacky to catch all those dirty flies. #2 Mike hates flies .. and flies have the ability to push Mike's buttons like no other! #3 A pesky fly can infuriate me if it does not cooperate with me in its demise! #4 I will finally admit ... my family is a bit TPT:-) I mean we DO have yellow strips hanging from our ceiling .. one of them even has a fly stuck to it -- yuck!

So flies can't be ALL bad, right .... let me research ... hold please .... okay its worse than I thought!! Did you know:

1) They live about 30 days
2) In that 30 day life span they lay 3,000 eggs -- what the????
3) Flies lay eggs in food
4) Flies vomit on food before eating it ... helps to liquefy it before consumption .. ugh!!
5) Flies defecate every 4-5 minutes -- please can it possibly get worse???

Eeeewwwwww!!

In all seriousness, these flies are driving us crazy! Any helpful advise would be much appreciated!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Mama!

You are the best mother on Earth! Here are some pictures that I took over the last couple weeks. Love you!!

In AZ Cinco de Mayo is a big deal as anyone would figure out quickly if they lived here. In my class we had a Cinco de Mayo fiesta which concluded our Mexico unit. I tried to dress the part but ended up looking more like a Hawaiian tourist than a Mexican Senorita. I must say, my little girls were mesmerized by my flower. They kept staring at me and commenting on how they wished they had a flower in their hair. I am fully aware that most adults would agree the flower was tacky, but it was a big hit with my first graders:-)

Kaelyn wanted to dress up too .. this is a picture of us in the morning before school:-) Notice Zacky sneaking into our picture.

We wanted a "girls only" picture and ended up hurting Zacky's feelings.
Here's Zack and I after he got done sobbing because we left him out of the previous picture. Such a sensitive young man Zack is:-) You can still see the tears of rejection on his poor little face.

Kaelyn trying to comfort Zacky too.

I could not resist! He will probably HATE me for this in a few years!!

Zack couldn't find any of his PJ's so he decided to borrow some from sister. Here's the evidence! I was CRACKING up when I took in this sight!!

The kids went to a birthday party at Lowes yesterday. They built a time capsule, planted flowers, and took a tour of the store. They had a great time. Here's Zacky working on his time capsule .. he did not dig the goggles one bit. His face was all red and sweaty and the goggles made huge indentions on his face.

Kaelyn working on her time capsule.

The little angels planting their flowers.

This is what we spent our morning making at the Harris household. My class is studying Ancient Egypt. To end the unit we will mummify the kids (wrap them in toilet paper) and they will decorate these masks to wear. They will lay around in our tomb (classroom) while the other classes take a tour. The kids are really excited. This was a big project for us!! Our fingers are aching from holding down the button on the spray paint.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T19:30:00.001-07:00

This weekend was off to a great start when I got news on Thursday that our administration decided to give the teachers Friday off (we originally had a professional development day scheduled). Mike took the day off on Friday too so that we could spend an extra day together:-) Kaelyn's class was going on a field trip on Friday. I was too late to attend the field trip but her teacher was okay with us meeting them at the park for lunch. I SOOO MISS being able to help out in Kaelyn's classroom on a regular basis.

Saturday the kids and I went to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny. When we got there the line looked about 2 HOURS long. I told the kids that it would be much more fun to "spy on the Easter Bunny" from the balcony of the mall and take his picture. They agreed -- YES - SCORE! We took a few pictures then went home to dye Easter eggs. We went to church Saturday night and today we went to Polly and Marlons for Easter lunch. We had fun over there and, as usual, I came home so full I don't feel good:-) The kids had their Easter egg hunt today at Polly and Marlons -- we totally over did it on the eggs!! There were more eggs than room in the baskets.

Here are the pictures I took from this weekend. I've been really bad about taking pictures lately! We are still in an "adjustment period" with me being back to work.

HAPPY EASTER!

Zack and Kaelyn this morning. They had a slumber party in Kaelyn's room last night.

We zoomed in on the Easter Bunny from the balcony.

My little family

Daddy and Kaelyn

All of us in our first family "auto shot"

Birthdays

2009-03-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn's classroom b-day party

At the movies on her birthday with Darcie

Both kids recently had birthdays. Zack turned 4 and Kaelyn 7! I can't believe how quickly they change from babies, to toddlers, and then to little kids! On some days my heart aches for another baby, on other days I don't know what I was thinking:-)

Zack had a good birthday. We went to Peter Piper Pizza. He received lots and lots of gifts. So many that most of them are still unopened at the top of his closet. I give him a new toy every once in a while. I thought he would probably get more enjoyment getting one at a time than all at once. He was so cute on his birthday, he asked me ... "Mommy, can birthday boys get in trouble". I'm not sure what kind of schemes he had in mind but I assured him that if birthday boys make bad choices they can still get in trouble. He pondered what ever it was he was thinking about doing for a while before running off happily.

Kaelyn's birthday landed on Spring Break, so we postponed her party. We'll probably have it next week or something. We haven't pinned down a date yet. I wasn't able to bring in treats to her classroom (since I work now) so I asked my sister Darcie to do me a favor and bring in treats for Kaelyn. Well ... in true "Darcie form" she went all out. I had sent cookies to school with Kaelyn that morning and then Darcie showed up with a huge balloon bouquet, Krispy Kreme donuts, hats, a book to read, and a camera to take pictures. She read the book to the class and had them all into the book by reading along with her. Then she passed out the cookies and donuts (thank goodness it was at the end of the day or the teacher might have been in for a rough sugar crazy day). The kids all got to wear the hats and get their pictures taken. Darcie checked Kaelyn out of school early and took her shopping, to the movies, and then we all met for dinner. Darcie truly is a SUPER aunt to Kaelyn. She really made her day!!

I posted some of the pictures from Kaelyn's birthday. Darcie took lots at Zack's party but I don't have them yet. I will post them later.

Gardening

2009-03-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today after church I decided to stop by one of the plant/tree nurseries to pick up some flowers to add to my yard. I have never done this before so I was being very brave. Going in the store, not knowing anything about gardening is a bit intimidating:-) Within the next few years, I plan to be a gardening expert ... so give me a call:-)

My goal was to add some color to the front and back yards. I picked up 4 trays of annual flowers (16 little pink, purple, and dark pink flowers), a large flower pot that was filled to the brim with assorted flowers, 2 Hibiscus (I LOVE the flowers on them!!), a few shrubs, some type of grassy bush, and this dark purplish/maroonish bush. Of course, I don't know all of the names, but I know that they look mighty colorful and mighty nice!! I am hoping and praying that all my little flowers make it.

I must say, it was a MUCH bigger job that I had anticipated! Digging, even small holes, is quite the chore in AZ!! I was looking forward to starting a new hobby, but the whole family had to get involved -- great fun was had by all!! Mike dug 3 huge holes for me pretty quickly .. I would have been digging all day! That's what you get when you have a powerhouse spouse! Hey that rhymes! My Big Strong PHS!

Unfortunately, I made a HUGE rookie mistake!! I guess I didn't realize what "Organic Soil" was ... because I was scooping huge handfuls with my bare hands. After I was all done I realized that what I had been working with all day smelled very similar to animal droppings! Help!! I have washed my hands about 25 times and they still smell like it! I have been slathering on the Victoria's Secret lotion so that it over powers the smell. I scrubbed, I showered, and still the smell remains ... what is a girl to do?? I tried to call my dad to ask for tips but he isn't answering. I will be picking up some gardening gloves for next time. (No wonder I saw so many gloves next to the "soil".)

Next time I will be a little more humble and ask for some advice from the nursery workers. What a fun job to work in a nursery!! I loved being there! You can't help but be happy surrounded by such beauty!!

I am on Spring Break this coming week! YES!! I am hoping that I have lots and lots of fun things to post this week! As of now, my only official plans are to SPRING CLEAN -- one room per day. That shouldn't be too bad, right??

Lake Pleasent

2009-02-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great day relaxing at the lake with some of our family and friends.

Kaelyn, Rayden, and Zack

Kaelyn, Polly & Daisy

Ready. Set. Go.

Fun times!

Mike & Duane

My hunka hunka

Zack and Rayden had so much fun fishing. They didn't catch any fish, I don't think they left the line in the water long enough for a fish to bite. But they sure had fun throwing out the line and rolling it back up 100's of times:-)

The $.99 Store

2009-02-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just had my first experience in the $.99 store. My kids and I were running around gathering up lots and lots of stuff for $.99 .. I was really shocked by the deals. Before we stopped at the $.99 store, we stopped at Teaching Stuff ... we got Kaelyn the SAME exact math flash cards at the $.99 store that we saw at Teaching Stuff for $6.99. I'm not quite sure I understand what is going on .. can someone please explain to me why I have never been encouraged to stop in to see what the $.99 store had to offer? I spent a total of $26 and came home with much more than $26 worth of satisfaction:-)

My "teacher-friend" recommended stopping in regularly to purchase stuff for the classroom. They had a whole isle designated for teaching/office type stuff. Just to name a few things .. I got a calculator, 3 sets of flash cards, a 5 pack of toothbrushes, the kids picked out a few goodies, white-out, 20 packs of pens, 48-pack of crayons, several VERY cute Easter decorations, Easter egg dye that came with little jewels to stick on the eggs (I have never seen that before!), an umbrella, color books, a few snacks, etc. I have to tell Mike about the i-pod accessory isle. I'm pretty sure he will be excited about it:-)

I don't know why I have never gone to the $.99 store! I think I found a new best friend:-)

I did think one thing was kinda weird tho ... Okay, there are $1 stores and there are $.99 stores, right?? The one I went to today was the $.99 store over on 67th/Union Hills ... my only question to them would be .. Why are you called the $.99 store when everything rings up for $1.00??? Why not just be called the $1.00 store like everyone else?? I'm not complaining, I was just confused .. ha ha ha! I mean they did kinda trick me ... you know making me think I was going to pay $.99 when in reality I had to pay a full $1 for my little treasures.

Build A Bear

2009-02-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

The kids and I went to Build A Bear today. They had a good time -- here's the pictures:

Here's Zack's final product..

(Zack saw one of his friends from pre-school and they were in line right behind us so they boys got to hang out together while they built their bears. His friends name was Adrian so Zack wanted to name is bear after his friend. I told Adrian's mom and she started laughing and told me that Adrian named is bear Zack. How cute!!)

Zack & Adrian

They both picked Honey Cub Bear Checking out the different voice options for the bears

Kaelyn's bear just got stuffed.

Zack is stuffing his bear.

After the bears got stuffed they had to be washed, of course:-)

Kaelyn's final product ..

Kaelyn & Faith

Updates Galore!

2009-02-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance

On Friday night Mike & Kaelyn went to their 2nd Daddy/Daughter Dance at Kaelyn's school. They had a really good time!

Here's Kaelyn doing the limbo:-)

Kaelyn and some friends on the dance floor.

Cutie Kaelyn

Mike & Kaelyn before the left for their big date!

Tea at the White House

Friday at school Kaelyn and the other 1st graders performed in a play. Each student had to choose 1 famous American to study. On the day of the play, the students dressed up like their famous person. Parents came in and interviewed the famous Americans and then headed to the cafeteria to perform their musical numbers. Kaelyn had a speaking part and did a GREAT job! Mike thought the funniest thing was when a little white kid came up to him and said, "Hello, I'm Barack Obama." Kaelyn dressed up like Lousia May Alcott (the author of Little Women).

Thanks for coming to Kaelyn's play uncle Marlon!!

Here's a blurry picture of Kaelyn's Lousia May Alcott report. The students' work was displayed in the hallway for parents to view.

Kaelyn & her teacher

Kaelyn and one of her favorite friends, Maddy

Zack's Birthday Party

We planned to host Zack's party at the park but there was a chance of rain. At the last minute we changed our plans to Peter Piper Pizza. I didn't get many pictures, Darcie was on camera duty and I have not gotten the pictures from her yet. Here are a few that I took:-)

Here's Zack and Mia. Zacky followed Mia around all day! They are such good friends and we really love Mia!!

Zacky begging to eat his cake.

Kaelyn & Jenna

Zack insisted on having this cake for his birthday. I tried to convince him to get a birthday cake, rather than a Valentines cake, but he could not be talked into it.

I always get my kids their own personal cake for their birthday. This is the one Zack chose this year. It was really cute.

Super Bowl Party

Bryce and Missy hosted a Super Bowl Party this year at their new house.

A picture of Steven captured by one of my kids.

Me:-)

Trisha, Steven and Mckenna

Mike and Pipebomb

Trisha & Kaelyn

Zacky on Riddy's bed

We had to get a shot of the prego eating a pickle.

Polly, Kaelyn, & Marlon

Jenna & Mckenna

I wanted to get the kids Cardinals shirts but they were all sold out. So, I made them shirts:-) Here's Zacky sporting his home-made Cardinal shirt. In case you haven't heard, Zack Harris is a FUTURE Cardinals player :-)

Kaelyn & Zack pigging out on Aunt Polly's brownies

Kaelyn's home-made shirt.

My babies!

Cardinal's Spirit at Church

The kids got to dress up like football players on Superbowl weekend. Here they are on the way to church. (Notice Kaelyn's Cardinals sign.)

Family Day

We were all off on MLK day so we decided to do one of our favorite things - a family bike ride. We rode our bikes to the movies to watch Dog Hotel.

We got there early so we had time to play video games. They really rip you off on the video games!! The cheapest ones were .50, but most were $1!!

We got a flat tire on the way there, so Mike rode to the bike shop that was conveniently located near the movie theater to buy a new tube. The kids and I stayed and played games while we waited for him to come back.

Happy times at the concession counter

Locking up the bikes

Me and my cruiser

Kaelyn and Zack anxiously waiting

Cardinals Play-Off Party

We hosted a small play-off get together. Here's Bryce after jumping on the trampoline with the kids.

The kids jumping with Bryce.

The non-jumpers

Even Shelby had to get in on the fun!

Pictures to add ... no cord to add them with!

2009-02-06T04:40:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to find the cord for my camera to load pictures onto my computer:-( I have lots of pictures that I need to add but unfortunately I haven't been able to add them. Hopefully I will make it to the store this weekend to buy a new one.

Zack's birthday is on Saturday! I can't believe my little beefcake is going to be 4 years old. CRAZY!!!

Oh Man!

2009-01-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

Dang it! I didn't loose any weight this week, but I am still totally committed to reaching my goal. I am still adjusting to my new schedule at work and trying to figure out a way to ensure that I don't get off track. This week will be better, I just know it:-) Trying to loose weight is the worst! I should be thankful it's only 15 pounds and not 115 like some of the contestants on The Biggest Looser. Okay ... so the goal for this week is to NOT be discouraged, keep trying, and loose a few pounds:-)

Work is going really well. I absolutely love my job and the school is great!! The other 1st grade teachers are totally amazing and I could not ask for a better team. My class is great .. there are a few little boys which I like to refer to as having "personality plus" which can at times test my patience (it's a good thing they are so darn cute:-), but I absolutely love where I am!

Kaelyn and Zack are TROOPERS and adjusting well to the changes over the last couple weeks. Thank God ... I was worried about how they would transition into me working. So far, so good.

Life is Changing!

2009-01-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well today is our last day before I go back to work! We are going to do something special as a family today to celebrate, although we are not quite sure what we are going to do yet.

I will post the details of my teaching job next week. Tomorrow I will find out more about what I will be teaching ... all I know today is that I have a contract for the rest of this year and for next year, which is MORE than I was hoping to get. Thank the LORD! You know it's God when you go into an interview with high expectations and leave having your expectations surpassed. Our family has definitely felt the favor of the Lord in the last couple weeks in many different situations!!

Zack will start Pre-K tomorrow and he is totally excited! He loves going to school and learning!!

Short post ... but we gotta figure out what we are doing today! Love ya!!

Go Cardinals!

2009-01-18T20:45:00.001-08:00

The Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl!

We had so much fun today watching the Cardinal's game with friends. As crazy as it sounds, Missy and I were just as into the game as Bryce, Pipe, and Mike! We can't wait to get a Cardinal's jersey to wear for the Super Bowl ~ of course we might have to add a few accessories to "girl" it up a bit. After the game we took a victory bike ride to Top Shelf to further gorge ourselves. It was so AMAZING because almost everyone we saw today was wearing their Cardinal's gear. I just love the team spirit. I saw it a few years ago when I was in Indiana right before the Super Bowl (when the Colts were playing), almost everyone I saw was wearing their shirts in support of the team. I love it!!!

Little Boys

2009-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, Zack just said the funniest thing!

Me: Zacky why is there dog hair in your mouth?

Zacky: Because I've been licking the dog.

(The look on his face was SO funny! He was so perplexed as to why I would ask such a dumb question. I mean ... why else would there be dog hair in his mouth??)

It's gross .. I know! I don't understand it either .. little boys ... gotta love them!

*** about 2 minutes later ***

Zack comes in the room holding up a marker in his hand which is dripping wet.

Zack: (looking very confused): Mommy is this marker washable?

Me: Yes, but that just means you can wash it off your hands if you accidentally write on them.

Zack: Oh, I thought it meant you could wash them.

More New Years Pictures

2009-01-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

Marlon & Polly

Marlon, Bryce, and Dennis Mckenna, Jenna, and Jayson

Mike & Bryce

Bryce & Missy

Kaelyn

New Years Eve

2009-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

Polly had a NYE party last night, we all had a really good time!! Thanks for having everyone over again this year Polly and Marlon!

Jenna, Pipebomb, and Mckenna

Missy and I
Yvette, me, and Jodi

Zacky playing with the disco light chair.

Kaelyn and me (I always get a picture of the two of us on New Years. I want to find all of them and put them together .. someday:-)

My babies and I

Kaelyn with all her New Year supplies.

Zacky with his supplies.

Mike was off hanging out with the guys upstairs and I didn't get any pictures of him. I will have to get some from Polly to post later.

The Biggest Looser Begins!!

2008-12-31T08:05:00.000-08:00

Okay Jill (and anyone else who wants to join us) -

Today is our official WEIGH IN day! I weighed in this morning ... let the exercise begin! You don't have to post your weight but every Wednesday you have to post how much weight you have lost. Let's hold each other accountable and have fun doing this!!

My weight loss goal is 19.5 pounds! Ugh -- how embarrassing!!

Next Wednesday we will post how much weight we lost. I better go to the gym now:-)

Christmas Day

2008-12-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

The kids got lots of silly string this year! They had so much fun with it. Here's Zack at Aunt Darcie's house terrorizing the neighborhood:-)

Mike getting ready to squirt Kaelyn.

RUN!

I'm not sure what's up with the 6 year old riding the Segway w/o hands?? Daddy???

Aunt Loni and Zacky on the treadmill.

Aunt Loni and Kaelyn w/ a Christmas present.

Aunt Darcie and Kaelyn

Brian is helping Zack and Kaelyn register all of their new pets on the websites.

Kaelyn and Zack Christmas on Christmas morning. They were SO excited for every present this year! It was so much fun watching them!!

Zack getting silly stringed. They have NEVER laughed so hard!

Digging into presents

Mike, me, and Loni all got Segway of TEMPE sweatshirts from Darcie and Brian.

Kaelyn has been wanting glasses FOREVER! Aunt Darcie got her a pair of non-prescription classes to wear around. Here's the two of us with our glasses on:-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids making cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

After they made cookies, they opened the usual 1 present on Christmas Eve ... (new PJ's to wear to bed on Christmas Eve:-) It's our family tradition to get a new pair of PJ's on Christmas Eve. So everyone can wake up with new pajamas on Christmas morning.

We also visited one of Mike's friend's on Christmas Eve, Anthony. They have a huge family party and everyone eats Menudo together. Mike and the kids have taken a HUGE liking to it!!

Zoo Lights

2008-12-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

We went to Zoo Lights last light with Pipebomb, Jenna, and baby Mckenna. Here's the pictures...

Graduation

2008-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

(Scroll to the bottom of the page for more graduation pictures.)

I finally graduated this Friday...It was such an awesome day!! I posted the pictures that were taken with my camera but I will be getting more pictures that were taken on other cameras soon.

This week has been so amazing! On Wednesday Mike TOTALLY surprised me by flying my sister Jill into town. I seriously had no idea that she was coming for my graduation! Mike told me that we were having one of his co-workers over for dinner but he had been plotting with Jill the whole time. At about 5pm there was a knock at the door and my kids were looking out the window. Kaelyn said, "It looks like Aunt Jill" to which I responded, "no, I'm sure it's just the neighbor". When Zack looked out the window and said, "no, it's Aunt Jill!!" Still, I had absolutely no clue!! When I finally opened the door there she was ... in full glory --- Ahhhhh! I quickly called Darcie and told her the great news and she immediately rushed over to hang out with us. The 3 of us stayed up really late participating in some sisterly bonding time:-) SO FUN!

On Thursday Jill, Zack, and I met Kaelyn at school for lunch. It was so cute .. we ran into Kaelyn's teacher in the hallway and she told us that Kaelyn was on "cloud 9" because Jill was in town. She said that she had been "glowing" all day long. We ate lunch together and then Jill and I ran a few errands/shopping. Darcie rushed back over to my house after she got off work and the 3 of us got to hang out again.

On Friday we all went to my graduation and then out to lunch at Sweet Tomato. Graduation was great and I was so blessed to have lots of friends and family there to share the experience with me.

Darcie and Brian had us over for dinner that night. Brian is a master cook and prepared some delicious soup for us. Thanks guys!! We had another late night of "sister time". We stayed at Darcie's til about 2 am just chatting away!

On Saturday Jill, Mike, and I all went to our gym and worked out together. Jill and I decided that we were going to have a "Biggest Looser" challenge. We both love the show and have a few pounds to loose so we figured that we'd try to help each other out. After the gym we went to Michaels and got some materials to make ornaments for our Christmas tree. After that, we went to church and then to Caramba's (the restaurant we go to EVERY week after church). Jill and I stayed up late chatting and doing laundry.

Today ... Kaelyn and I dropped Jill off at the airport. Sniff Sniff

School's Out For Summa! (or Winta)

2008-12-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that I am FINALLY done with school, my last day was almost 1 week ago (last Tuesday). It was a bittersweet day for me because I was super excited to finally be done with school but I was also so sad to leave the kids. My actual graduation is this coming Friday morning at ASU. The degree I will receive is a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education.

This has been such a long journey for me which started WAY back in 1995!! As I started out my college career I decided to pursue a degree in English Education .. just like Nana:-) My senior year of high school I managed to save up enough money working at Mega Foods to attend my first semester at ASU. My first semester was an amazing experience! I felt so ... so ... independent! The following semester I could not afford ASU so I opted for Chandler-Gilbert Community College. I loved this semester too!

After my first year of college, my family moved to Idaho and I moved into a apartment. At that time, I changed jobs (started Discover Card) and increased the hours I was working each week. Unfortunately, I didn't really have the time or money for school ... boo hoo! I worked at Discover Card for about 10 years and managed to take a couple business classes at the University of Phoenix and Glendale Community College.

Once Zacky was born in 2005 I began to stay home with my kids and take some on-line classes at Rio Salado Community College. As much as I LOVED staying home with them I really needed to do something to get out of the house. Mike and I talked about me going back to school. We were blessed to have Polly, Marlon, and Trisha down the street to help us with the kids on the nights that I had school and Mike was at work. I most certainly would not have been able to go back to school without such a supportive family!! Thanks guys!! And the rest is history!! I started the teaching program 2 years ago and I am finally finished! The time has gone by so quickly!!

In the process of completing the teaching program, I have developed a HUGE sense of school pride. I absolutely love ASU and I get excited whenever an ASU game is on! I am already telling Kaelyn and Zack that they have to attend ASU like mommy:-)

I have gone back and forth about graduate school. Not about whether or not I will attend, but when I will start. As a teacher, I will be required to continue my education. You are not required to attend graduate school, but I figure if I have to take classes anyway they may as well count towards a degree:-) I'm still not 100% sure what I will do at this time. I am just going to relax this week and possibly make a decision after Christmas.

~I love Christmas~

2008-12-10T15:42:00.001-08:00

On Sunday I wanted to spend some "girl time" with Kaelyn so I arranged with Mike for him and Zacky to hit the road for a few hours. Zack found out that our girl time activity was to make a gingerbread house and he insisted that he was going to stay with us. After several minutes of trying to convince him that "man time" was much better than making a gingerbread house we realized we needed to come up with a new plan. We ended up deciding that we would both spend some 1 on 1 time with each kid.

First I stayed home with Kaelyn and she made her gingerbread house while Mike and Zack went to the park and for a pretzel with cheese. Then we switched kids and Zack stayed home with me to make his gingerbread house and Mike took Kaelyn to the movies. I must say, at first I thought it sounded too complicated and I tried to simplify things, but Mike really wanted 1 on 1 time with both kids.

I really enjoyed my time with each kid. It was so nice to devote 100% of my attention to each of them for a few hours. You could tell by the sparkle in their eyes that they enjoyed it too:-)

Zack's gingerbread house

Kaelyn's gingerbread house

Yesterday my school had a small faculty Christmas party for the employee's children. Santa showed up with a gift for each child. As Santa was giving out the presents the kids were immediately tearing into the packages. Kaelyn was one of the first kids to get her present and she just sat there patiently waiting for Zack to get his present before opening hers. My friend was shocked at how sweet she was .. truthfully, so was I .. but it was such a tender moment to watch.

Zack was the very last kid to get a present. We thought he might not get one at all for a while because both of Santa's bags were empty! All the teachers and I were running around tracing Santa's steps to see if the present had fallen out of his bag on the way from the "North Pole". Finally, Santa realized that Zack's present was stuck in the bottom of the bag. Poor little Zack was sitting there wondering what was going on and why Santa had forgotten him. Once he finally went up for his present everyone was cheering for him (which is why he looks so scared standing up there by Santa).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (the explanation)

2008-12-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm not sure what is going on .... for some reason I can't add text to my last post. So this post is just an explanation of the post from yesterday.

The kids had their Christmas play on Friday night. They did so well and we were so proud of them. Missy, Bryce, Jenna, Pibebomb, Amanda and her kids, and Darcie were all able to come see the little gems perform. The church said they video taped the play so I will purchase a copy for you Indiana folks to enjoy. The pictures of the kids wearing black are of Friday night before the play. (All the kids wore black in the play.)

The pictures of the kids in the snow were taken over at Missy and Bryce's house. Their neighborhood is amazing, they brought in snow so we had to go join in the fun. Lot's of snow, hot cocoa, hot cider, and cookies! I have more pictures to post from this day but I want to add the text along with the pictures. Some of the video clips require an explanation:-)

The last picture was taken on our way to Seth's state championship football game. We were running around all day and the kids had not eaten yet so we stopped at McDonalds. On the way to the game, Zack fell asleep mid-bite. What you see hanging out of his mouth are his fries! It was SO funny!!

Tomorrow is my last day of student teaching!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-07T13:37:00.001-08:00

2008-11-28T09:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had such a fun and busy Thanksgiving yesterday. It started out at about 7:30 am and we got home at about 10pm last night. Mike organizes a friend/family football game almost every year on the morning of Thanksgiving. The kids and I went to watch and snap pictures of the guys playing football. After the game, we raced home to take showers and go to Polly & Marlon's house. We ate dinner at about 2pm then played on the Segways and golf cart. The weather was perfect and added to the feeling of Thanksgiving - it even started to HAIL at night! Once the hail started coming down we all retreated to Polly and Marlon's game room to look at pictures while the kid's played pool and the guys watched the Cardinal's game.

Here are some of the pictures that I took yesterday. I hope that everyone had a great day yesterday, we sure did!

Quick Update

2008-11-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Dang, this week flew by! I can't believe it's already Sunday afternoon! Mike is at the Cardinal/Giants game today with Brian. The kids and I just got back from church. We stopped by the buffet on the way home, ugh ... I am so full! "Big Girl ... Hearty App!"

The kids spend the night at Darcie and Brian's house last night. They had a great time, as usual! The kids are pretty predictable in terms of what they want to do over there (and believe me, the kids call the shots when they are visiting over there:-) 5 and Diner, Toy's R Us, and home to play. Darcie bought Kaelyn and her little friend play cell phones. They could actually text each other with them, I thought that was pretty darn cool myself! Mike and I went out to dinner, then to the movies - Role Models. The movie was okay, quite a few cheap laughs.

I got my cap and gown on Tuesday - Yippee! Only 16 more days left .. excluding weekends & Thanksgiving Break it's only 10!!

For Thanksgiving we will spend the day at Polly and Marlon's house. Let's see .. it will be Darcie and Brian, Melody and family, Polly & Melody's dad and his wife, Steven, Trisha, and some of Marlon's extended family. I think Darcie and Brian are bringing the Segways so we can have our 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Day Segway Tour! I will be sure to take pictures!

Kaelyn and I started talking about Thanksgiving 2009 today (Collard Family Reunion). She is totally excited about the snow, bunk beds, and lots of cousins and family members! I am excited too:-) She is very concerned about having the proper snow attire. I assured her that we'd go shopping before we leave. She's already making a mental list of all the things she'll be needing ... a planner ... just like Aunt Polly:-)

Mike & Brian at the Cardinals/Giants game

Go Cardinals!

Cassidy and Kaelyn with their cell phones

Final Stretch!

2008-11-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, tomorrow I will start my last full week of student teaching. I am so excited for this semester to finally be over with. Although the time went by pretty quickly, it was very stressful at times. I tried to explain it to Mike by telling him that student teaching would be the equivalent (in the business world) of having your boss work in your office for 15 weeks and watch everything you do and give his opinion about how you could do things better. On top of that, I often I had principals and ASU supervisors coming into watch me teach. It was like I was in a fishbowl for 15 weeks!! Don't get me wrong, my mentor teacher is a good guy, but it wasn't always easy working that closely with another person for that long. On a positive note, I learned SO much and I am thankful for the experience. I formed some great relationships with the faculty as well as the students.

Next week (week of Thanksgiving), I will give back Math, Reading, and Language Arts to my mentor teacher. During that time I will go around the school to observe different grade levels.

The week after that I will give back all teaching/prep responsibilities to my mentor teacher. This will be my very last week. I will observe other grade levels and teachers all week long.

FINALLY!! The end is here! I am super excited for a break! After Christmas Break, I will begin substitute teaching so that I can sniff out a teaching position for this fall.

Kaelyn and Zack are doing great! Kaelyn started taking showers (instead of baths) this past week. It brought back the memory of my first shower .. it started with me begging my mom to let me take one. She repeatedly said no so I proceeded to throw a fit. Then she finally gave in ... I remember her standing on the toilet looking over the shower curtain watching me and telling me what to do. I remember feeling like a "big girl". Kaelyn didn't get quite as much coaching as I did. When I was towel drying her hair I noticed that she didn't do a very good job rinsing the shampoo out of her hair .. o'well.

Zack is SO SO SO SO into reading and spelling. He asks me ALL DAY how to spell everything he looks at. As much as I am pleased that he is so interested in learning, it wears a mama down! One day after I had been asked to spell about 7,000 words I asked him to "please stop spelling". After I said it, I started laughing because it sounded so ridiculous. Seriously, you have not seen anyone love to spell until you have seen Zacky. Instead of toys, he carries around a piece of paper with letters written on it. If you think I am kidding, I'm not! Everyday, several times a day, he asks Mike and I to draw his ABC's in bubble letters so that he can color them and carry them around with him. It sounds kinda strange, but maybe he will be like one of those home-schooled kids that wins national spelling contests ... only he won't be home schooled of course.

Mike is great. His job is going well and he is still working out like a maniac. I wish I had about a tenth of his drive in the fitness department. 430 a.m. appointments at the gym should be illegal in my opinion, but he enjoys it:-) He is getting to ride his mountain bike about once a week lately and he also picked up road biking (a while back). He's a great example to us!! The weather is finally getting nice enough for us to break out our cruisers and go on some family bike rides. FUN FUN!

Beef Cake!

2008-11-11T15:31:00.001-08:00

Okay, as I was posting my last blog entry Zacky came in my room crying .. our conversation went something like this ....

Zack: Mommy, I put my shirt on right but I can't pull it down.

Me: Come here let me look .. (starting to crack up)

Zack: Mommeeeeeee!

Me: Hold on let me take your picture.

Zack: No Mommeeeeee!

Me: Just hold on ... smile.

Zack: Mommeeeeeeee stop.

Me: Just a couple more pictures!

Anyway, isn't he the beefcakeyist??? I am not exactly sure how he got his undershirt so tangled up around his arms and neck, but here are a few pictures I took of him. Zack always wants to be so independent ... he probably tried to figure this out himself for a long time before finally giving up and calling on me to help him out.

Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Kaelyn, Zack, and I were off school today for Veteran's Day. We went to the park today ... here are some pictures that we took.

I'm not sure what's going on here but Zack was insistent that I take a picture of him doing this, enjoy:-)

Kaelyn

They spend A LONG time putting these flowers into the little holes on the ... the ... the whatever this thing is called that they yell into and it carries their voice to the other side of the jungle gym.

I was making up obstacle courses for them which all ended with them running into my loving arms at the end for a kiss. I couldn't resist getting some video footage of them coming up to the finish line. Here's Zacky coming towards the finish line for his smoochy! I was all ready to get Kaelyn running towards me too, but she fell off the monkey bars and hurt her back pretty badly.

Quick Hello

2008-11-06T17:46:00.001-08:00

Okay ... not quite the miracle I was hoping for, for John McCain. But, today is a new day and America has spoken ... rather clearly might I add:-) Hmmm ..... well enough about that for now.

The good news is ... I only have 31 more days until I am done student teaching! I have SOOO enjoyed 4th grade this semester! They really are the perfect age ... old enough to be somewhat responsible but young enough not to think they are "too cool for school" ... (they still love ya and think teachers are wonderful). It would be absolutely lovely if I could get a job teaching 4th grade, I have lots of lesson plans and activities all ready to go!! But .... my number 1 priority is to get a job at Kaelyn's school. Unfortunately, I'm desperate so I'll take what they have opened:-) I haven't observed or taught in a grade that I didn't like, so I'm sure that everything will be just peachy!

Election Day!

2008-11-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone VOTED today! Kaelyn and I are watching CNN closely to find out the results ... the anticipation is nerve racking to say the least!!

We are praying for a miracle -- Go McCain!

I voted early, but rather than mailing it in, I hung onto my early ballot until today because I wanted to take Kaelyn with me to drop it off at the official voting site. I thought it was important that she come with me and "experience" the democratic way for herself. I imagined myself walking past 100's of people standing in a long line .... right up to the front to drop my early ballot in the box. HA HA HA -- Not really the way it happened, there were only 2 people in line when we got there .. bummer (for us, not the people waiting in line)!! We ended up waiting in the line and then I let Kaelyn drop the ballot into the box.

Talk tomorrow!

Trick-or-Treat

2008-11-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year! I wasn't sure that I was going to make it after such a LONG day at school! I came home with a headache and a tight back/neck ... planning and carrying out a Halloween Day for a class is much harder that one might think. I was stressed out to the max by the time I got home from school, but my students had fun and that's what is important. Nothing like 15-30 minutes of alone time and a couple Advil to take care of a long stressful day!

We have a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating so we invited our friends over to pass out candy with us. We set up camp in our driveway and ordered pizza. We sat in the driveway passing out candy, eating pizza, and hanin out for several hours -- It ended up being a really fun night!

Kaelyn was a nurse this year and Zack was Spiderman.

Here's Jenna and baby Mckenna the bunny. She was the cutest little bunny in the world! Her costume was adorable.

Here's a close up of the cutest baby in town! I seemed to have caught "baby fever" last night. Can you imagine why??

My little Spiderman

The kids just came back from trick-or-treating. They were showing off the goods!

Missy, can you believe you will have a little munchkin next year?

Pretty Polly and Cute Kaelyn

Jack & Jacky Lantern

2008-11-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

In our family, we give an name to ABSOLUTELY everything. Every toy, stuffed animal, doll, picture of a doll (you get the point) has a name. Kaelyn probably has about 500 stuffed animals and dolls. Every single one of them has a name and a middle name and she REMEMBERS all of them. It's actually quite impressive! Naturally we had to name our pumpkins too.

Now I never said we were very original, so here's Jack and Jacky Lantern:-)

Kaelyn and I got bored from watching Mike carve the pumpkins so we started

taking pictures of ourselves.

After 6 years of watching her mother, Aunts, and all their friends snap pictures of themselves, here is Kaelyn's first picture of herself. In case you are wondering, all you have to do is pick up a camera, hold your arm out, point it towards yourself and SNAP! This was a "big girl" milestone in our family:-)

Wacky-Wacky-Yay!

Kaelyn took a pictures of Zacky and I (as of now,

Kaelyn wants to be a photographer when she grows up).

Zacky is picking out the "guts".

A little pumpkin guts never hurt anyone:-)

Best Dad in Town!

The Wolf

2008-10-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite shows is American Gladiator ... seriously! I know it is kinda silly but Mike and Kaelyn especially like it. Kaelyn knows all the names of the gladiators and she watched faithfully last season with Mike. I think Mike secretly wants to be a gladiator. You can imagine how star struck he must have been when he ran into "The Wolf" this weekend .... here's the evidence.....

My hunk and The Wolf (The picture was taken by Mike's camera phone so not the best quality.)

Salty Senoritas

2008-10-26T20:24:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Salty Senoritas for dinner. My sister-in-law Joanna is in town for business so we rounded up some of our friends and spent a good part of the day hanging out on the patio outside the restaurant with her. Jenna, Pipebomb, Baby Mckenna, Bryce, Missy, baby on the way, Jayson, Logan, Darcie, Joanna, and the Harris Crew all enjoyed the day together. Love you everyone!

The restaurant is nice because you can watch the baseball players practicing from your table if you are sitting outside (right next to Peoria Sports Complex). Plus the kids can run all around and only mildly irritate other people .. ha ha ha! My kind of restaurant since my kids seem to enjoy running around.

Kaelyn, Jenna and Zack (and a few kids we don't know:-) on a huge life-guard type chair.

Mike, Bryce and Kaelyn - Mike and Bryce kept making mean faces and I couldn't get a good one of them together so I posted a good one of Bryce and a good one of Mike separately. Here's the good one of Bryce:-)

Missy, me, Joanna, and Darcie. Missy is a couple months prego! She is due May 2nd ... We keep teasing her that she better be ready for our Cinco De Mayo weekend at the Pointe.

Kaelyn, Darcie, and Jenna eating Sopaillas. If you look really close ... in the bottom right corner of this picture you can see baby Mckenna's chubby little cheek peeking out!

Darcie and Zack at my house while we were waiting for Joanna to arrive.

Night out with Darcie

2008-10-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last night I got to hang out with Darcie. We attended a charity event for Arizona Children. The night started out on the rooftop of the Valley Ho Hotel for coctails. The Valley Ho was really fun, the decor was very 70's / Brady Bunchish / Austin Powerish. Then we all moved downstairs for an amazing dinner and Carolina Herrera fashion show. It was really fun and I got to meet all of Darcie's future inlaws and friends ... all wonderful people!

This is Darcie and I being silly on the way home from the event. She got camera happy in the truck so we took pictures of ourselves at all the stop lights:-) It was as if I was 22 again:-) Fun stuff! Oh, and sorry about the grease! A big shiny face is how I always end the night.

Here are some of Darcie's girl friends ... Tram, Vicky (Darcie's future sister-in-law), Darcie, me, and Kate (she is so cute ... 6 months preg and as tiny as can be). All the girls were so sweet.

Darcie and I

Kate, me, Darcie, and Tram

Darcie with one of the fashion models in the background.

Darcie and I enjoying the rooftop at the Valley Ho.

Student of the Month!

2008-10-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wow ... this week zipped by for us!

We were notified by mail last weekend that Kaelyn would be the recipient of the Student of the Month Award at her school. The school invited us to come and watch her receive the award. Kaelyn did not know that she had won and we decided to keep it a secret too:-) Polly, Adrienne (Mike's sisters), Mike, Zack and I all went to support our little "Student of the Month".

When the principal called the kid's names during the assembly the kids would run down the isle of students, past the parents who all gave high-fives, then through a tunnel that the teachers created by locking their hands together. When Kaelyn's name was called she started WAlKING SLOWLY towards the back with a completely bewildered/deer in headlights look on her face. The P.E. coach, bless her heart, decided to make the "victory run" with Kaelyn. She was very cute, but the PE coach blocked my view for getting her picture (and high-five for that matter!!). O'well. So, sorry I don't have any pictures!

We were very proud of Kaelyn! She won the award when she was in kindergarten too! We have a VERY good girl and we are very proud of her!

I also had her 1st grade parent-teacher conference on Monday. All good stuff! Her teacher said that she is already at the level they hope students will be at the end of the year:-) Yay Kaelyn! Kaelyn's class has been doing The Beary Good Reader program. We keep track off all the books that she reads and then she earns stickers at school for every 5 books. At the end of the year they give out awards. Kaelyn is in 1st place in her class and VERY motivated to stay there! She has been reading chapter books independently and has read pretty much everything we have so we will probably have to add to our book collection soon.

Happy Birthday Quaid

2008-10-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Happy 35th Birthday Quaid!

QUAID - It occurred to me as I was looking for pictures of you to post that you must be hiding when the cameras come out - ha ha!

Here are some that I came across.

Quaid and Cubby (This is my favorite face that Cubby makes!)
What a cute father and son!

My fabulous dad, Zack, and Quaid roasting marshmallows

(When I loaded this picture Zack said, "I wanna go there" ... Gee I wonder why??)

Me, Quaid, Jill, Joanna, & Ben (Jill & Quaid's house)

Thunderbird Mountain Hike

2008-10-13T17:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we hiked Thunderbird Mountain. The kids did famously! I was so proud of them because it was a pretty long hike. It took us about 2 hours but we were stopping regularly to throw rocks, draw maps in the dirt, and examine anything else we came across. We had a great time together.

While we were hiking a sweet lady offered to take our picture. I was happy because we got one of all 4 of us.

Kaelyn led the way most of the trip. She was really into it!

Zacky and I were usually in the back taking our time. Zack was full of adventure ideas and we had to act them out as we hiked the trail. For example, ducking down low so that the "thorns didn't get us" and hopping over the rattle snakes ... you get the idea. I'm sure that the other hikers probably thought we were insane, but Zacky enjoyed bossing me around.

Kaelyn stopped to take a rest.

At the end of the trail the kids stopped to run through the tunnels.

Zacky throwing rocks.

Zacky drawing a map in the dirt "do we don't get lost".

My babies and I.

Kaelyn and I

Mike and Zack

Quick Update!

2008-10-12T07:38:00.001-07:00

This week FLEW by! I can't believe it's Sunday already. On Monday Mike got to have "Daddy-Bro" day with Zack. They always have fun together on Mondays. Kaelyn is excited for tomorrow because we are all off for Columbus Day. She officially declared it "Daddy-Bro-Doodie Day". I'm not sure how I fit into the equation, maybe I'll just be forced to go get a pedi .... all alone ... nice!

Zacky woke up sick today. We told him that he could not go to church because we didn't want him to get the other kids sick too. He cried for a long time because he wanted to go so badly. Mike was up at about 5am getting ready to go mountain bike riding, then had to change plans to go road bike riding instead so that he could be home in time for Kaelyn and I go go to church at 945am. Mike and I have been attending the Saturday night church service so that I can teach on Sundays at 945. Kaelyn is now in my class. It's fun having her in class but she tends to get a bit jealous of the other kids getting some of my attention. She has told me that "it feels like they think you are their mommy" and "why did you ask that girl to be your helper and not me" ... I have to constantly explain to her that I have to love all the kids and give everyone an opportunity to help.

Yesterday Marlon took the kids to the AZ State Fair. I wish I would have sent my camera with him! Apparently they were VERY lucky with the carnival games. They both came home with three stuffed animals!! They are great shots with the squirt guns I guess. We are SO blessed to have family that loves our kids so much! Thanks Marlon for surprising them with the fair yesterday. I got the opportunity to go through their rooms and clear out old art work and toys they don't play with anymore. It's funny how they WILL NOT let me get rid of toys that they never play with, but if I clear it out while they are gone they don't even miss it.

Here are some random pictures....

This is Zacky on "Daddy-Bro" day ...

Both of them ...
Here's a picture of Zacky this morning ... he's sick! I quite possibly am the only mother that would make her kid smile for a picture when they are sick .... sorry Zacky!

Mike before he left for his bike ride. He likes to ride about 30 miles on Sunday mornings -- FOR FUN!!!! (I wish that was my idea of fun.)

Count Down!

2008-10-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

**65** more days until I'm done with school!

Graduation is on December 19th @ 9am!

I love ASU!

Monkey Bars

2008-09-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a video clip of Kaelyn crossing the monkey bars. She has been trying really hard at recess every day and she finally accomplished the feat! She really wanted Grammy and Grampy to see her.

Although she CAN make it all the way across we didn't capture it on this video because I was standing in the way. (You can see the look of disappointment on her face when she drops down at the end.) There were too many kids at the park to keep trying to get a video of her making it all the way so I figured you could just take me at my word .. he he he!

Enjoy!

Super Aunty!

2008-09-28T18:09:00.001-07:00

Darcie invited the kids to spend the night at her house on Saturday. She picked them up around 4pm and that is when the fun began ....

As if my two kids were not a big enough hand full, Darcie and Brian invited another 3 kids from their neighborhood along for the ride. Here are some pictures of their night ...

Dinner at 5 & Diner (my kid's FAVORITE place to eat)

A trip to Toys R Us ... check out the cart! Aunt Darcie and Brian love to SPOIL the kids. Pretty much every visit includes a trip to Toys R Us. This time the whole neighborhood got a new toys!

Ice cream anyone??

This is Kaelyn's new friend from Aunt Darcie's house, Cassedy.

After all the stops, Kaelyn got to have Cassedy spend the night over at Aunt Darcie's house. I guess they stayed up until 1am watching The Little Rascals.

Thanks Darcie and Brian for spoiling the kid-o's! We love ya!

Fall in Arizona

2008-09-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

So I hear that Fall is here ... you would not know it by the heat in AZ! Anyway, we had a great weekend ... we rung in the season poolside:-)

Saturday morning the kids and I went over to Stacie's house. They just moved in to an absolutely beautiful new house with a pool. The kids went swimming while we hung out together.

Her girls are SO cute!

Here is Kaelyn, Ryen, Mia, and Zacky

Kaelyn & Ryen

Mia and Zacky

I put this picture in here to remind me of how quickly my kids are growing up! Apparently Zack knows how to color and stay in the lines .. say what??? Last I noticed he just scribbled out the entire page. I was in shock watching him color over at Stacie's house! I guess pre-school is really paying off - ha ha ha!

Twinkle Twinkle

2008-09-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

The kids are already practicing for this years Christmas program. This is a song that Zack will sing along with the other 3-5 year olds. Kaelyn has been helping him with the words this week. Kaelyn is in the 6-9 year old group and she will be performing O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, and .. hmmm ... 6 other songs I can't think of right now:-) Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... here are Kaelyn and Zacky ... dah dah dah daaaa!

Kaelyn's First Tooth

2008-09-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

After many attempts to remove "wiggler" from Kaelyn's mouth, we were finally successful tonight! She really wanted to have it out for picture day which is this coming Tuesday. She is so funny ... I can't wait to see what she smiles like in her school pictures. She wants her missing tooth to be showing.. ha ha ha!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

We had the best Labor Day weekend! We spent the weekend at the Arizona Grand Resort (formally called the Pointe at South Mountain) with family and friends. Adam and Ericka arrived on Friday. Polly, Mike, the kids and I met up with them on Saturday. Duane lives near the resort so he was able to join us both days for dinner. Then on Sunday Jenna and Pipebomb joined us for some time by the pool and dinner.

Jenna and Pipe's baby girl (Mckenna) is due in 1 week. I am totally bummed that I didn't' get any pictures of them, she is one of those pregnant women that looks absolutely ADORABLE pregnant (totally skinny with a round tummy)! ** We missed everyone that could not make it this weekend!

We hung out by the pool all day on Saturday and Sunday. The first night we ate dinner and Rustler's Rooste and the second night we went to Aunt Chilada's, other than that we just enjoyed the weekend poolside with people that we love. The kids had a blast and so did we!!

The bull that lives in front of Russtler's Rooste

This is Cannon (Adam and Ericka's son), Kaelyn, Savannah (Ericka's cousin's daughter) and Zacky
Kaelyn and Cannon playing Little Pet Shop.

Mike and Ericka

Mike and Zacky

Zacky going down the slide at Rustler's Rooste

Me anxiously awaiting my steak dinner:-)

Duane (Mike's friend since high school), Adam, and Mike

Adam and Polly
Mike and Adam relaxing in the sun.
Zacky after drinking his "little boy margarita" aka strawberry smoothy

Zacky with Aunt Polly's hat on.

Kaelyn and Zack
Polly

Cutest girl in town!
Kaelyn and Zacky hitting the waves. This area of the pool is a wave pool. There was also water slides, 3-4 different swimming pools, volleyball / basketball pool, and lazy river.

Zacky practicing his swimming.
Me, Zacky and Polly

Greetings!

2008-08-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness it has been busy around here. I officially started student teaching this week and it has been quite an adjustment for all of us.

This past weekend Mike decided to take the kids and I to our very first puppet show. It was great fun for all! We saw The Little Red Hen. Here are some pictures that we took. The kids got to look at tons of puppets, watch the show, then make their very own puppet! Fun Fun Fun! Here are some of the picts:

Happy Birthday DARCIE and BRIAN

2008-08-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my baby sister, Darcie, and my future brother-in-law, Brian!!

We love you guys SO much and we are really looking forward to your birthday dinner tomorrow:)

Thanks for everything you guys do for us, we are SO blessed to have you both!

Happy Birthday to two of the best people I know!

LOVE YOU

Zack's First Day!

2008-08-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

Our Zacky (aka: Tooter, Tootery, Toots, Toot-Toot, Tugs, Tugboat, Tuggy McTuggerson, Mr., Mr. Sirs, Nah-Nah, Nons, NuNu, Nunny, Wacky-Wacky-Yay, Bub, Bubs, Bubby, etc.) started pre-school today! Between Kaelyn and I, "Mr." has TONS of nicknames that I felt the need to share with you!! I am sure he will continue to acquire more through the years!!

Zack has been excited all week long about going back to school and seeing his friends. I don't know why but I think it is SO darn cute when he calls his little 3-year old friends by their first and last name!

Today when I went to pick up Zack from school I walked into the room and was able to watch him interacting with his friends for several minutes before he noticed that I was there. As soon as he saw me he burst into tears and started running towards me. Naturally I assumed he missed me terribly ... what mother wouldn't?? As he ran towards me I squatted down to his level so that he could run into my arms, but I was not greeted with a hug. In fact, I was greeted with a swift shove toward the door!! THEN the Little Stinker started telling me to go back to school because he wanted to stay longer!!! Can you believe it??? My little "Mama's Boy" totally betrayed me today... boo hoo! Sniff Sniff, I am over it now:-)

Cabinet Fun!

2008-08-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

One of Zack and Kaelyn's favorite things to do is visit Mike at work. What kid wouldn't love going to a huge warehouse of empty cabinets?? All those secret hiding places and cubby holes!! We took some pictures of them today hiding in the cabinets.

Student Teaching

2008-08-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

I finally found out that I will be student teaching at Sky View Elementary, in a 4th grade classroom! The wait is finally over! Here's the school's website:

http://portal.peoriaud.k12.az.us/sites/SkyViewEL/default.aspx

My mentor teacher is a guy, I'm not sure if that will be a good thing or a bad thing, I'm believing GOOD!! At least the wait is over!! I was a little nervous after watching that show on T.V., Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader! As soon as ASU called me today I ran to the computer to research the school. While I was checking on the school I came across a quiz titled "Are you Smarter than a 4th Grader". I am VERY pleased to say ... drum roll please ... I passed the test! I feel much better now! No but seriously, it is crazy how much we forget in our old age. These little guys have to learn A LOT and I hope that I can make that process fun for them!!

Bye - eeee!

Twins

2008-08-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn and her best friend, Jenna, decided to wear matching outfits to school today. Jenna showed Kaelyn the green shirt about a month ago. Kaelyn LOVED the shirt and wanted one SO BADLY. When we finally got around to going school clothes shopping Kaelyn hunted down the shirt at Target; she was SO proud of herself for finding the it.

The girls both agreed several weeks ago that they would wear matching outfits on the 2nd day of school. Ohhhh, to be a 1st grader again!!

Back to School

2008-08-11T13:49:00.001-07:00

Kaelyn went back to school today. Here are some pictures that we took this morning.

Swimming

2008-08-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Kaelyn and Zack swimming over at Aunt Polly & Uncle Marlon's house. Marlon picked them up the other day for a day of fun.

Today is Jill's Birthday!

2008-08-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Jill!

I am so excited that you are finally a real woman .. ha ha ha! I always thought that once you hit 30 you would start feeling like a real woman, funny thing ... I still feel the same!! How about you?

I love you, you are an AWESOME sister! I hope you have an excellent day! You are beautiful in every way, inside and out, and I am so proud to be your sister!

Meet the Teacher continued ...

2008-08-07T18:27:00.001-07:00

Meet the Teacher Day

2008-08-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

We just got home from meeting Kaelyn's new 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Sherwood. Kaelyn was very excited all day about meeting her new teacher. Here are some pictures that captured the special event! (Zacky was not too happy about getting his picture taken with his sister!)

Notice how Kaelyn's personality seemed to change a bit after we got to her classroom. She got sad because she is not in kindergarten anymore. We did stop by her old classroom to see her old kindergarten teacher.

Random Pictures

2008-08-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures that I took over the last few days....

The first few are of Zack (who is still in the process of learning to pose for pictures). When I tell him to smile for a picture, his shoulders seem to automatically go up! Oh well, it makes for a pretty funny picture in my opinion. Check out those cheeks and those chins!!

The next picture is Mike and Zack working on their bikes in the living room. If you are wondering why they are working in the living room instead of the garage .. well, don't forget .. we live in AZ and it's 500 degrees outside! P-l-e-a-s-e with this heat!!

The last is a picture that Kaelyn INSISTED that I post. She got a mani and pedi last weekend with Aunt Polly and they made her fingers and toes look like watermelons. So, the painted her nails red with a green strip at the tip and black dots for the seeds. They were very cute (even tho they are kinda chipped in this picture).

Count Down to School

2008-08-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

We are all counting down the days until everyone goes back to school!! Kaelyn will start 1st grade on August 11th (only 5 more days!) , I go back to school on the 18th but don't start student teaching until the 25th (still waiting to find out where I will be student teaching - hopefully 2nd grade), and Zacky will start pre-school on the 19th. It is a very exciting time around here .. ha ha ha!

Not only I am counting down the days until I start school, I am also counting down the days until GRADUATION! Hopefully I am not making anyone gag:-) ... but there are only 125 days until I will at last complete my degree. Considering I graduated back in good 'ol 1995, it has only taken me a mere 13 years (watch out everyone!) Yippee!! I will be sure to keep you posted on that graduation count down .. ha ha ha! I have always been a counter downer .. is there anything wrong with that (other than being kinda weird)??

No pictures to post today! I have not been taking many pictures lately. Rest assured, there will be plenty of pictures coming up with school starting. We "Meet the Teacher" tomorrow at Kaelyn's school. That will definitely be an occasion to bust out the camera. By the way, I can't believe that I have a 1st grader!! Where did the time go? It is absolutely crazy how fast time flies by!

Talk to you guys tomorrow!

SUPER DAD!

2008-07-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Mike and the kids had a very fun "Daddy Adventure Day" yesterday. They started out going to the Arizona Science Center to see the Grossology exhibit (the kids had a BLAST, we highly recommend it .. check it out!! http://www.azscience.org/grossology.php), then to In and Out Burger, then to see a movie.

Darcie and I laughed so hard when the kids told us about all the gross stuff they saw at the science center. Hmmm, lets see what I remember .... a pretend lady burped in Kaelyn's face, they touched a piece of poop, played on a giant slide that was made to look like the insides of a body, smelled and touched all kinds of disgusting stuff. For example, urine, stinky arm pits, bad breath, "ooey gooey boogers" and all sorts of other things that come from humans and animals. This was definitely a DADDY activity. (By the way, if you get the chance have Mike tell you about his big whiff of urine ... VERY funny story!!)

Then as if the day could not possibly get any better, it did! Aunt Darcie invited them over for a slumber party! Darcie sent us pix messages throughout the night. It appeared in the pictures that the entire living room was converted into one giant fort!

In Loving Memory of Grampa Mike

2008-07-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

Earnest Michael Burnette

February 19, 1947 - July 11, 2008

"G-Mike"

Kaelyn's first trip to the dentist

2008-07-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn had her first trip to the dentist yesterday and what a big event it was!! I think she was a little apprehensive in this picture, but overall the visit went very well. In fact, she is already anxiously awaiting her next trip in January.

Indiana

2008-07-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

I could not help but post some pictures of my most recent trip to Indiana (May 2008).

Since Mike didn't get to join us in Indiana, here is a recent picture of him with our babies. And yes, I am very proud of my family aren't they GREAT!!!!

My family is the BEST .. LOVE EM!

Going to Work!

2008-07-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

As most of you already know, I have been working for Darcie & Brian at Segway of Scottsdale. Usually I work on Mondays and Mike stays home with the kids, but duty called today so the kids and I all got to work for a couple hours!! Here are some pictures of us today. The first one is Kaelyn and I getting ready for work, and the second one is Kaelyn and Zack on the way to work.

As I was driving, I took a look in my rear view mirror and this is what I saw (2nd picture). I am so BLESSED to have these little babies! I love them!! Check out Zack "representing" ASU!! And that sweet Sissy holding her brother.

2008-07-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Monsoon Season!

2008-07-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn and Zack has lots of fun playing in the rain the other day. The rain was pouring down and they were completely soaked in a matter of minutes. Here are some of the pictures that Mike took while they were enjoying the Monsoon Season!