Happy Birthday

***UPDATE, It's a GIRL!!!!****

Happy Birthday Carly!

We've been best friends since High School, lived together during our attempt at college and vacationed together as we got older, and this is the best picture I could come up with. I guess we're always to busy having fun to stop and pose.

Not only is it Carly's birthday today but she has an appt to find out the sex of the baby. I'm predicting it will be a girl. Stay tuned for an update!

Pumpkins

We went over to Jen and Christophes on Sunday and had an amazing brunch then carved pumpkins with the kids. Mark chose the biggest pumpkins he could find that the kids couldn't even carry them. The boys each chose a design or decided to make a "custom" face as Braden put it, and went to work. Of course with the help of Jen, Christophe and Mark. I was the official picture taker :). It was a nice relaxing day but pretty warm. It's hard to get into the fall spirit when it's 95 degrees still. Peyton chose the spider design and when that was done he decided to carve a custom face on the other side. So, our pumpkin is a 2 for 1. It was the final touch we needed for our spooky house.

Spider side and custom face side

It's Gone

I had to do it. I was so sick of it that I chopped about 5 inches off of my hair. Now, I didn't relax it like I normally do, just dried it straight, which I'll have to do from now. I'm pretty sure I love it but it'll take me a few more days to know. My hair just got so long and I hated the way it was looking. So, any comments? Good or bad? It's definately a change but hopefully a good change. And, it's only hair. It'll grow back again soon.

Hmmm, do I like it?

It'll have to do for now!

Spooky House

I had to work late the other night and when I came home the house had been decorated for Halloween with a lot of decor we didn't have before. Mark had gone to Michaels and bought styrofoam balls to make the heads of the ghosts and tore up an old sheet. He put fake spider webs and a spider web light up. I thought it was cute that him and the kids did all of that.

I've never seen him so into Halloween before but I think Peyton's bringing it out in him.

Another Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday has come and gone again. I hate the end of this day because it means I have to go back to work. If only I could win the lottery or hit a jackpot at the casino then we'd be all set. Isn't that realistic? I dream of being a stay at home mom. Just think of the friends I'd meet at the casino! :)

Mark had to work today so I tried to entertain the kids as much as possible, which lucky for me means minimal house cleaning. We rented the Bridge to Terebithia. I never read the book and the movie made me cry at the end. Not what I was expecting at all. I think it has a great story to it and was thoroughly entertained but being a parent I couldn't handle the ending. Maybe I'm just extra sensitive today but I felt horrible for the little boy Jess and the guilt he had. Peyton thought it was a great movie and looked at me like I was crazy. We definitely had different perspectives of the movie. When that was done we made Halloween decorations. We haven't pulled out the "real" decorations just out of pure laziness so this was the next best thing. Another reason is that the HOA doesn't allow us to decorate until the 5 days before. Pretty lame if you ask me.

When Mark got home we went bowling. Now, some of you might think this is incredibly geeky, but it's one of our favorite past times. It's a perfect place to take kids who like to scream (Drew) and we get to be out of the house. Yes, there are some worries like what about the shoes, but as long as you wear socks (**coughcourtneycough**) then you're in the clear. We started taking Peyton bowling when he was 2 so we thought we'd give it a try with Drew. She did great for the first 5 frames then was over it. She did love her "shoe shoes" though and I really wanted to mark the occasion with a picture of all of our feet.

Night Night

3rd times the charm

Danielle, I changed the song just for you :)
The Geckos won again today. Peyton scored 3 goals and the end result was 4-0. It was pretty exciting but next week is going to be a hard one. We're playing the Dragons and they are really good. Hopefully we can keep up our winning streak even though we're technically not supposed to keep track!



My pops and Monica came for a very short, quick visit. They were able see the game, we went to lunch afterwards and now they're gone. Doing what grandparents do, my pops took the kids to get ice cream after lunch. That was something he never did when I was a kid. Why is it always like that? This is the before and after. I don't think she knew she could eat the cone because it's bone dry inside without a nibble on it.

Almost done

So I never thought making the banner for Soccer would be so hard. We're almost done. We just have to cut out all the names then we're finished. Of course, cutting out the names has given me a headache so I decided to stop for now. Here is my work in progress. I promised to have it done by Saturday but I'm wondering if I can just go buy letters somewhere and glue them on. Maybe even stickers? It's so much to cut. The players, coach, assistant coach, etc. I'll put the completed one up this weekend.

On another note, here's some pictures of the kids. Drew got these hand me down p.j's about a year ago and they fit her perfect. I think they're so cute with the eiffel tower and oooh la la everywhere. This was over the weekend. My favorite time of day is when they wake up and are excited to see each other. They always say good morning and give each other kisses. I love it.

Black Jack

Saturday night was dinner and blackjack at the Douherets house. The kids got an early start on Halloween and got into all the dress up clothes. If you can't tell Peyton is a rhino. Drew was sound asleep in the bedroom and missed out on the action as usual. We had a great ahi and clam dinner outside then moved it in for a competitive game of blackjack. We've met some new friends/neighbors, Danielle and David, who live across the street and are fun, interesting people. Just a side note, Danielle is a 911 dispatcher and I find that so interesting. I always have questions about the calls she gets. They were able to join us along with their son Braden. This was good for us because it meant there was more money to be won. The Sickenberger's came home up $30.00 and were the big winners for the night. Okay, really Mark was but it usually goes into my wallet. :)

2-0

The Geckos won there second game 5-2. Peyton scored a goal and the game was really exciting. It's so cute to see them run in a pack while tripping over eachothers feet.

The key is to make sure they know which way the goal is. Peyton had the ball and went all the wrong way almost scoring a goal for the other team.

My Space

Here is just a thought for the day :
I don't understand myspace, which I think is why I started blogging instead. When you bump into someone you haven't seen for a while the first thing they ask is "are you on myspace?" I tried several times to set up a page but I couldn't figure it out and got way frustrated. I just thought of this because my cousin seemed shocked that both Randy and I don't have a page. I tried to go to my cousins page to check it out and again, couldn't do it. Ugghh, the frustration.

The Best Welcoming

Well, I'm home. I've been gone in Newport all week staying with Randy. It was a nice change of pace and I got to check out his new apartment. It's a HUGE complex with about 700 places, 3 pools, tennis & basketball courts, a really nice weight room (not that I used it) and even a little general store. It has nice walkways and ducks walking around everywhere. They even have a big wading pool for the ducks next to the real pool.The weather was typical beach weather which was cold for me and frightening for my hair. It's amazing how curly it gets with all that extra moisture. The only downfall was that being a bachelor he had NO food. I didn't have my camera and tried to take a picture with my phone but it didn't work. It was literally empty with condiments only. The shelves had a 1/2 gallon of milk, 2 beers and 3 peaches. To his defense though, he just moved in and hasn't had the time to go shopping. Normally he does have food but life's just been busy. And, he took me out to mexican food one night at the pier and sushi the next so I can't complain. Connie was able to meet us for sushi and we had a good time. I even learned that a rotating sushi bar does not mean the restaurant rotates, but that the sushi goes around on a little conveyor belt. Pretty cool. I also got to see Carly who does finally have somewhat of a little pouch sticking out. No, she still doesn't look pregnant but her belly is finally starting to grow.

Anyways, I'm home and my family gave me the best welcoming. They made a sign and had so much to show and tell me. Peyton got a black eye at Drew's party that didn't show up to after I left. Don't know if you can see it but he was trying to do a flip in the jumpy house and his knee hit his face. Drews vocabulary has increased and she looks so huge to me even though I was gone for 4 days. And then there is my wonderful husband who survived the week and still has a smile on his face. All the little things of soccer practice, picture day, Drew's cold on top of just being a single dad can amount to a lot but he hung in there and I love him for that. If all that he did wasn't enough, he even suprised me with Jewel tickets!! I love her and can't wait to go. She's playing at Morongo in November. There is a story behind it and I'll try to make it quick. I got us Jewel tickets 4 years ago in Novemeber at the McCallum. 3rd row, center stage, prime seats. We were all set but the night of the concert he calls and says he's stuck and has to work late. I was furious but I took Jen and we had a great time, but that's one date he's sorry he missed because I won't let him live it down. So, thanks Marky for the tickets. I've been waiting 4 years for this date and I know we'll have a blast as usual. You are the best.

Hula Hula

Today we had a luau to celebrate Drew's birthday. It was a long day but seemed to go well. It's hard being the hosts because it feels chaotic and stressful but people seemed relaxed and the kids had fun. Mark made some really good food: ahi sashimi, pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, and a pretty fruit platter. I wanted to take a picture but it was gone before I could. I take that as a good sign. I planned 2 games for the kids: Hot Coconut and Pin the Fin on the Shark. I had to make the shark game because we couldn't find one in the stores. Peyton helped me and he was pretty proud of how it turned out. Thanks to my mom and Ann for frosting the cupcakes. I was determined to have them blue with palms trees on them so it looked like an island in the ocean. Then of course there was the pinata. The darn thing didn't want to break and while Luke was hitting the heck out of it the stick broke instead.

We didn't do presents until after everyone left but I wanted to say how proud I was of Peyton. All week he was worried because he didn't have a gift for Drew. It never occured to me that he would want to get her something on his own. So, I took him to the store and told him to pick out whatever he thought Drew would love. It was a dog that came in its carrier with food, water and etc. I made him pay for it with his own money which he didn't want to part with at first but he was so happy to give it to her. It was a good learning experience and he was happy to tell everyone that he bought it all by himself. He's a good boy with a good heart.

Riding her new trike-Thanks Connie!

Peyton taking his turn at the pinata

Grandma Ann and a sleepy Drew

Chef Competition

Mark and Christophe didn't win there competition but they said it was a lot of fun and they're happy they did it. As I said before they went with an american classics theme. Here is their dish of the lobster dog, kentucky fried lobster, lobster bacon cheeseburger, fries and some dipping sauces. Looks pretty creative and tasty to me.

Soccer Time

Peyton's soccer season has finally begun. As parents were excited because its our first time to experience organized sports. Peyton was excited for his uniform. Our team is the Geckos, our color is red, he's #2 and I'm the team mom. Team mom is fun so far but the whole banner thing is already stressing me out! This is him and Ty waiting to play. Ty is in a younger league but our games are almost at the same time each week.

Today was the first game and it was so cute to watch. There are 5 kids on each team and they play 4 five minute quarters with a break and a 1/2 time. We aren't supposed to keep score but technically we won 3-2. Peyton looked like he scored a goal but it was hard to tell because one of his teammates was right there helping him kick it in. According to him though, he was the one that got it in. Either way it was really fun. At the end of the game the parents of both teams make a tunnel and cheer as the kids run through. I was really unsure when we started this but after today I think I'm going to like being a soccer mom.