Valentines Day

We celebrated Valentines day early this year since Mark has to work that day. The kids got Mark cards, I made heart shapes muffins and we had sparkling cider with breakfast. That was pretty much the extent of our Valentine effort at home but the kids didn't care. They were happy we were all home having a family breakfast, which sadly is something we haven't done in 3 weeks since Mark has been so busy. I'm counting down the months till high season is over so we can do these simple family things more often.

Bieber Fever

The kids could not WAIT for the Justin Bieber movie to come out. Peyton has an adorable girl named Elle in his class who has a sister name Misha that is in Drew's class . They are all friends and were excited to see the movie together. I had absolutely NO interest in seeing it and even debated on taking my kindle to help pass the time. Well, I hate to admit it but I really liked it. It was a documentary about how he got to where he is and I now have a soft spot for the cute singer. If you have kids I highly recommend it. I think they'd love it.

Superbowl

We watched Superbowl hoping the Steelers would win. No luck but still a fun time was had by all. After the game and dinner we decided it was a perfect time for sparklers. Doesn't everyone light sparklers to make the night complete?

Happy Birthday Peyton

Peyton decided he wanted his 9th birthday at the Palm Springs Skate Park because he had so much fun at Ty's. I couldn't argue. Easiest party ever. We had pizza, Sk8erade (get it), cake that turned your tongue blue and a 13 happy kids that rode their skateboards, scooters and even rollerblades. We only 2 very minor kid wipeouts and 1 adult (Mark). I think he really was remembering how much fun it was when he was younger and realized his body just doesn't move like that anymore. One of Peyton's highlights of the day was the matching shirt and hat Ty gave him. The hardest part for me.... just the fact that another year went by, another year he got older. It's going by way too fast.

Fight Night

Mark and Peyton share a love for the sport of Boxing. They watch all the major fights together and since Peyton was 5 they have been going to live matches around the valley. So for Christmas I bought tickets to a fight that was being held at Fantasy Springs Casino. The one thing I didn't do was check Mark's work schedule to make sure he's be free. Stupid mistake. We're in high season here and he was busy with a banquet. So, off to the casino I went with Peyton for a date night. I felt like a fish out of water. We had corner seats right where the boxers entered the arena. Thankfully Mark was able met us there after the second match and the hightlight of the night. Out of the curtains came Oscar De La Hoya. As we're standing there face to face, eye to eye, I smile and he smiles back. I ask, will you take a pic with my son. He nods and Peyton wimps out. He got too shy so I was only left with a picture of him alone as he walked away to take pictures with the thousands of other people excited to see him. Maybe next time.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve started out with the thought of just staying home with the kids since Mark was working. Then my girlfriend Valerie and I made plans for her to come over with her daughter since her husband was working as well. Then there was another friend who's husband was working and another. So....the actual night began with wives and kids while the husbands trickled in. The night turned out to be a very, very fun New Years Eve. Peyton started to get sleepy at 11:30 but was determined to stay up and Drew made it till midnight and happily went to bed at 12:10. They toasted each other with apple cider in plastic champagne glasses. Sharing the night with them was my favorite part of all. We've always left them at home before but seeing how excited they were watching the ball drop on TV, throwing streamers at midnight, making appetizers and wearing their party favors makes me so excited to host New Years again next year.

Christmas

Our first Christmas in our new home. It was little weird in the beginning when we were trying to decorate. Peyton wasn't happy but Drew and Mark were determined to make it great. I was on the fence missing our old home but knew we had to be happy in our new. But all of those feeling were thrown out the window when Santa came. It was a perfect Christmas and throughout the day the kids kept telling us it was their best one ever. Peyton gave Drew a pink lava lamp and she picked a flannel for him. The rest of the family came over for brunch and even more presents. My camera died but not before I could get a shot of Randy with his nerf gang.

Christmas Eve

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my grandparents on my dad's side of the family. They only live an hour away and it's great for the kids to see their Great Grandparents. They are now excited each year for the food, gifts but most of all the mexican cookies my grandma bakes each year. My grandparents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary which is absolutely amazing to me. That is just something you don't hear about anymore. It's so nice to see how much they love and care for each other. They had 4 boys, my dad being the oldest. We took a picture of all the men in the family......can you see how much Mark stands out? Even Peyton kind of blends in :)

Then a picture of the grandkids minus 2 of them. Spending the holiday with them is a tradition I don't want to see go away.

Christmas Cowboy

Cowboy Christmas is a something that has become a tradition with my dad. We've been going for about 5 years now and look so forward to it each time. My dad is a cowboy who lives on a ranch and this is his happy place. Each year for 2 weeks in Vegas, at the same time of the rodeo, all of the convention centers open up for aisles and aisles of shopping. They have everything you can imagine from the littlest picture frames, clothing, home goods to diesel trucks, tailors and even horses and tons and tons of bling in between. You don't have to be into country to enjoy it unless you're my brother. I don't think he's as excited as we are to go back next year but at least he came. During the weekend Mark kept trying to bet on the UFC fight and couldn't understand why the sportsbook didn't have the odds up. Well we found a sign saying we were a week early and him being so stubborn insisted that Vegas had the wrong dates. We even had to call several people to clarify hence the picture.

Student of the Month

To our shock Drew brought home an envelope from school letting us know she was getting the student of the month. Not sure why we were so suprised but we were. We sometimes have a bad habit of comparing her to Peyton at this age and sometimes think that maybe she's a little behind since we started her a whole year earlier. Well, she obviously doing something. We went and saw her receive her award and she couldn't of been more excited. That is until at night when we were having dinner with friends. She's excitedly telling them about the assembly then she leans over and whispers "what'd I get again?". Her friend Zoe got the writing award and another friend Misha the math. I wasn't able to get a picture but they were 3 happy little girls.