VICTORY

Last weekend Randy and Katie came to visit.Of course we had a blast but Mark and I had been talking about all the bowling we've done lately so of course the competitive side of us all came out. Randy and Katie challenged us to a few games which we happily took on. Now, according to Randy, they beat us and we basically had no chance. In my eyes, they did win the first 2 games, but, out the total points for all three games Mark and I came out ahead by 10 pins. So, Katie, if you read this, your cute matching bowling shirts couldn't bring you ahead! Sickenbergers claimed VICTORY! Although, I do have to admit. As chessy and geeky as bowling is, we've had a blast doing it lately and want our own matching shirts to wear too. I was a little bit jealous that they beat us to the punch. We tried to have our shirts for the night we went out for Emilys birthday but I just didn't have my act together. As far as the name for them goes, 3 strikes and 6 tacos. A long story going back to when we were in Hawaii but it was absolutely funny that they made that their team name.

Happy Valentines Day

I'm not a big fan of the day. I DO NOT want any type of gifts, cards, bears, candy etc. I'm a person that would rather have my spouse surprise me with those things on a random day. To me, that's more special and it definately makes me feel a little more loved. But.....since the day is supposed to be about love, I thought I'd quickly post mine.

I love that Mark still makes me laugh after all these years and that we have fun no matter what we're doing.

I love that Peyton is missing his front teeth.

I love Drew's frizzy fro and crooked smile.

Bowling Party

Peyton also had a party last weekend at the Casino Morongo Lanes. It's brand new, super clean and bright and a great layout for kids. The theme was pirates and we had the kids dress up. They all looked so cute. The pictures do the party justice.

A blurry picture but they are giving me the best ARRGGHHH

Green icing in the best.

Zach in the cutest skull shirt. He was the modern day pirate.

The adults taking in the action.

Peyton's Birthday

So much has been going on I'm a little behind. The actual day of Peyton's birthday we went to his school and brought pasta/garlic bread for all the kids and teachers. The kids were so excited and kept telling us enough how it was the bestest pasta ever. They fell in love with Mark. It was like he was Santa. As soon as they were done they were all over him. The kids then gather around and sing Peyton happy birhthday as they crown him king for the day, while he opens his presents. Before we left 3 of the girls sang me a song and gave me a little dance. I kind of felt like a celebrity. They all wanted to give me a hug and hold my hand. There was probably paperazzi hiding under the desks waiting to take the perfect shot.

Later that night we went to Red Robin for a quick dinner and birthday desert. It was a LONG day.

PIRATES!! Arrgghh

Happy 6th Birthday

I can't believe my little boy is 6. There is nothing little about him anymore and coming to terms about how fast he's grown is a little hard. He is a wonderful boy who has the biggest heart. If I'm sick, he prays to make me feel better. If I'm tired, he hurries and cleans his room so I won't have to. If Drew is being a handful, he's extra good so I won't get overwhelmed. His laughter is contagious and fills a room and his spirit is full of joy. I absolutely love him and am so blessed to have such a wonderul little boy.



I made this little slide show of the past 6 years to make the special occasion.

http://www.slide.com/r/4GrGVTmy0D8GiQxheEI94wL2pE7IXUkX?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

disclaimer: there is music but of course there has to be a honda commercial before the music actually starts!

Emily's Birthday

Friday night we went out to celebrate our friend Emily's birthday. About 15 of us got together for a night of bowling, laughs, dinner and unfortunately one to many cocktails. A couple moments are a little foggy towards the end of the night but I'd like to count that on fact that it was late and I was very tired. :) Emily wasn't feeling a 100% so I made sure to celebrate for her and boy did I celebrate. I don't think I need to do any celebrating any time soon! It's was so much fun to go out with a different group of people and feel like you've known them forever.

Court and Eric at Shanghai Red's.

Mark being his serious self. Between him and Eric I couldn't get a "normal" picture. Must have been something in the water.

Wish I could remember what we were laughing at but at least I know we were having a good time!

Brunch

I came across these pictures from brunch a couple of weeks ago. This is
one of our favorite things to do in the summer. We've become friends with the mariachis, the waiters and it's a relaxing day. It was the day after Peyton hurt his arm. And, by the way, the outcome was a dislocated elbow and he had his splint removed yesterday. He's a happy camper. So, just some cute pics of a warm Palm Springs day in January. Different from the rainy weather we're having today but I'm

loving every minute of it!

Need suggestions

My 30th birthday is coming up in August and I want to do something special. I feel like I have to offically grow up. I've always said that the 20's are a time to find out who you are and learn from your stupid mistakes so I have 7 more months to make those! I may have to sqeeze in my tattoo before then just to blame it on my "20's" later in life. So, even though many of you don't like to comment, I'd really like your opinions. These are the things I'm contemplating:

Vegas-Hard Rock is my favorite in the summer
Weekend in San Diego and Del Mar Horse Track
A 4 day Carnival Cruise to Cabo
Or a Theme party (I'm partial to 20's or 80's)
Any suggestions???

Mark is pushing me to make a decision but I'm cracking under pressure! Help...

E.R. Visit

What a night. Yesterday afternoon Mark and I took the kids to the park around dinnertime. They were playing, running around, jumping off swings and pretending to be pirates. Peyton decided to do the monkey bars with me standing very close to him as he makes his way across. As I tell him "wow, you're doing great" his hands slip and he falls. It was the way he fell that we knew wasn't right. He immediately started crying, got really pale and couldn't move his arm. Uh Oh. I begin to giggle. I have a horrible habit of laughing when someone gets hurt more because I'm nervous not because I'm mean. As I'm on the floor holding him, I tell him "Peyton, you looked just like spiderman doing that" but it didn't help like it normally does. Maybe I should have said Batman. He dried his tears but wouldn't let go of his arm. Finally I tell Mark let's go home and see whats wrong. As we're walking he burst into tears again because of the pain. This is very out of character for him because he's like me. He gets hurt, laughs, waits for the pain to stop, then continues on playing. We somewhat warned him that if he couldn't move his arm then we're going to have to go to the ER to get it checked out. "Okay", he said, "but I don't want them to cut if off". So off we go and it turns out he has a fracture in the elbow. What kind of fracture, we're still unsure. It's either the bone or the cartlidge and we won't know until we see an orthopedic surgeon. I must admit. I was very calm during the whole ordeal until the doctor thought it might be dislocated and started tugging on it to pop it back. I had to leave the room for fear of passing out. I hated to see my baby in so much pain. Thankfully Mark was the tough one and shared his stories of his own childhood ER visits. I have to give a very special thank you to Jen and Christophe though. Jen's sick and as a family they had an extemely busy Saturday, but when I called them to dump off my full of energy, screaming banchee of a daughter they had no hesitations. That's what makes us family instead of friends. Now, Peyton's only other concern/request besides the pain is that he needs to be able to bowl for his birthday party so we need to take him today to practice. I don't think so but nice try!

A cool dinosaur sling and chocolate shake makes the pain go away.

Drew kissing Peytons owie. Kisses always make things better.

Drew posing for the camera for once. Happy that we're home.

Bowling.....again

So, bowling has very quickly become our new outing with the kids. They could be loud, active and it's fun for the whole family. I know the one thing that turns people off is the whole shoe thing but really, it's not that bad. You try shoes on all the time at the mall and they don't spray anything in them when the person decides not to buy them. Which is worse? Last weekend when it was raining the kids were cooped up all day on Saturday so by Sunday we had to get them out. We started out by planning Peyton's birthday which got him WAY too excited and hyper. Thankfully he mentioned he wanted to get some practice time in since we'll be having the party at the Casino Morongo bowling alley. I took a picture of the screen to remind Mark that I WON! Yes indeed, I can throw a ball like the pros. If I keep practicing I may make it my fallback career for when I grow up.