The Season Is Finally Over

We spent this whole weekend at the soccer park because Caden played in the AYSO sectionals. There were teams from all over central California.  Saturday he had three games and they did pretty good, they tied two and won one, so they moved on to Sunday and had to play 2 games today. They lost their first game so they had to play one more game to see who would get 3rd or 4th place. They played so hard, they were all so tired! Towards the end of the game the other team made a point and right at the end Caden scored one for our team. It went into over time and then the other team scored. :(  They lost 2 to 1. The boys were all sad! The lady in charge came over and congratulated the boys for going so far, she said that it was the furthest any Bakersfield boys u10 team had gotten! 4th out of all Central California. The boys were still upset, but they should be proud of themselves, they did great!! It was a great ending to a 7 month soccer season!

 Here is another group picture, they all look the same, but oh well.

Here are the boys before the last game. The coach had a good friend of his die today, in between the two games he went to the hospital to be with him. Then he came back to coach the team, what a guy! 

Here we are waiting in between games. It wasn't that hot today but sitting out there for so many hours we all got some good sunburns!

The kids were exhausted, both days on the way home they all fell asleep. Yesterday after the games Brad asked all of them if they wanted to take a nap by him (thinking they all would say no) Caden said I will, once his head hit the pillow he was out! That is not normal for him, he must be drained!

Gyms

When I first got married I worked out twice a day once at the gym and then I'd go running down to the beach everyday. What the life, then we moved away from the beach and had our first kid. I then would work out 4 times a week. Which is what I've been doing since my first kid. I stopped our gym membership and work out at home, mostly running, since I enjoy it. I bought a treadmill and then I even won a treadmill and a home gym on the radio so I didn't really need a gym membership. Even though I work out faithfully it doesn't seem to matter how much I work out, there has been no loosing or gaining weight going on here in the last 4 years! What is the deal? I need to go back to working out everyday 2 times a day but with 3 kids, a house to keep and a husband there is no possible way! So I heard a thing on the radio about this gym offering no fees to sign up, free tanning, free kids care, 2 free sessions with a personal trainer, it is right down the street from my house and all for a low monthly payment. This morning I made an appointment and went to check it out. It is nice and they do offer a lot of cool things but my question is, why did I come out of there with $132.00 less in my bank account? Didn't they say it was all pretty much free? I am a sucker! 

Picture Overload

We went to the Fresno zoo this weekend with some of Brad's family, it was a ton of fun. It was a little rainy but not too bad. There was hardly anyone in the zoo, the workers said there was about 1,400 people at the zoo the day before. We chose the right day, there was probably 100 people. The kids loved all the animals, even Nixon who is scared of all animals like his mother.

Here is the group of us ready to go in.

 

Brad and I 

Andrew and Leia 

Paul, Mariela, and Kenneth

 Easton and Nixon checking out the elephants.

The kids looking at the flamingos, boy do those things stink!!

Afterwards we went back to Paul and Mariela's house and Paul and the guys made Paul's yummy tacos!

There is nothing like having the men cook for you.

This weekend we also went to a birthday party and "George the Giant" was there. He did some cool things, although some of them were pretty disgusting! Here he is doing one thing he did on "America's Got Talent" Sucking milk through a crazy straw, while it goes through his nose and around the birthday boy.

Here he is doing a cool balloon trick, the kids liked this one.

Here he is swallowing a sword, after that Ginger got to pull the sword out of his mouth. Scary!

As we were watching his stunts, the kids would run in and out of the room, because they were scared to look, it was pretty funny.

Favorite Foto Friday

This picture always scares me a little, not because I was pregnant at the time, but if you look closely in the back ground behind the Christmas train, there is a little picture intruder hiding (it's my nephew Camden). I still think it is a little creepy just because it is dark and his eyes were glowing from the flash of the camera. What a sneaky guy, we miss you Camden and family.

Aside from the picture, is it normal to not want to sleep in the same room as my husband, because he was sick tonight? I get so nervous that I will get sick, I automatically think I am getting sick if someone else is sick. Oh well, I know he'll forgive me. :)

Yummy Icing

I am looking for a killer icing recipe. I love the one my family uses but I wanted to try a new one, anyone have one that they absolutely love?

The Brad Race 1st Semi Annual Extended Family And Friends 5k/ 10k Fun Run, Walk, or Bike

For those of you that don't know, we are putting on a 5k/10k on April 4. If interested check out this link: http//www.thebradrace1stsemiannual5k10kfunrun.blogspot.com

Happy 27th Birthday Josh!

My little brother turned 27 today, that is so weird! I can't believe how fast time goes by! Not only is he turning 27 today but he is getting married this April too. We are excited for him and his new family to be. Happy Birthday Josh and congratulations Josh, Marianna, Julie and Sean! We all love you!

Our Exciting Morning

We had a lazy morning since the kids are out of school today. Then around 10:30 our neighbor came knocking on the door and said "your truck got broken into!" I looked out and saw Brad's work truck had been broken into! I saw that my neighbor down the street had his car broken into the other day and thought man that stinks for him, well now it stinks for Brad. Actually the person that broke in must have been dumb or have gotten scared by someone driving by, before grabbing the more expensive things. All they did was brake the window and then took the navigation system. He luckily brought the laptop, that is normally in his truck, in last night. It took about 2 hours for a police officer to show up and then we had to have Brad's boss out to take pictures and a report and now Brad is getting paid just to watch them put a new window in the truck, so far he hasn't had to work 3 hours of his shift maybe he will get away with no work today. People sure are desperate for things now-a-days!

Fave Foto Friday

My kids can get a little wild at night and it usually ends in a fight. Well last night my kids were done with baths and they love to watch t.v. right before bed time, so they were in my room watching t.v. while I was cleaning up a little. When I went in my room to tell them it was bed time, this is what I found. No fighting or screaming, just kids relaxing and even sharing a blanket. I treasure moments like this one!!!

 

Top Romen

Caden gets home from school and is always looking for a snack, I ask do you want some crackers, an apple, etc. NO, his snack of choice is Top Romen. That would be fine but he doesn't want it cooked, he likes it in a plastic bag with the seasoning sprinkled on top! What's up with that? 

One of my greatest blessings ever.

Whoops, I am not doing so well with this blessing thing I was trying to do, we'll see how long this will last.  So Carsyn received an award for being a Student of the month yesterday. I know everyone has to have a turn to be student of the month, but I know Carsyn is truly a great student. She may not get the best grades all the time but she loves school and tries really hard. She is one of my blessings, ONE of my VERY best blessings!! What an awesome girl. She is my peace keeper, when the kids are fighting she will be the first to give in, or she'll give up what ever they are fighting over. I love that girl!

Sorry the picture is so bad my camera needs the perfect lighting to be able to get a good picture!

Caden's Women

When we moved our kids to their new school Caden had a hard time starting out. He wanted instant friends and was distraught everyday before school. It has gotten 1 million times easier. He has a big group of friends and loves to play at recess with all of them. The one thing he doesn't like are the group of girls that follow him everywhere. They chase him, take his backpack and just tease him all the time.  I can't believe how aggressive 8 and 9 year old girls can be. They go right up to him and say they like him. There was no way I would have done that at that age! Today I was picking him up from school, and this little girl comes up to me and says, "Caden says he is part Irish," and I said "well he has a little Irish in him, look at his red hair." She then says " Red hair is not the only thing Caden has,"  I say "oh yeah what does he have" " He has dreamy eyes!" What?? What kid says that? She then goes up to Caden (who is standing by some other girls) and says, "Caden I wanted to tell you something, I like you and you have dreamy eyes." All the other girls start to laugh and Caden acts like he didn't hear her and walks off. He has no interest in girls yet he just gets bugged by them bugging him. Carsyn better not ever be that forward!

One of my many blessings

I forgot to tell one of my blessings this week. I am sitting here alone on a Saturday night and it feels all too familiar. The reason why is that my husband has 3 brothers and they all like each other, and like to hang out a lot! So if I don't plan something on a Saturday my husband is more than happy to go hang out with his brothers, it can be golfing, hunting, movies, UFC fights, or anything manly and they love it. So you may ask how can this be a blessing? Well these nights I get to get caught up on some good ol chick flicks. Right now I am watching Sleepless in Seattle and there is no way Brad would want to sit and watch this movie ever again, once was too much for him!  

Andrew, Greg, Brad and Paul

Fave Foto Friday and Facebook?

My Grandpa e-mailed me this picture of a car accident, this truck went through a railing and flipped over to the spot were it is in the picture. Notice where the railing is that it came through. Now scroll down and look at the next picture. 

Notice how far down the car could have fallen!!! Amazing! Someone was looking out for that guy!

Okay I thought I was out of the loop when I found out about blogs and how many people have them. Well I talked to an old friend the other day and asked if she had a blog, she said no but I have a facebook account. I had heard about facebook but never went on to it, well I started my own account so I could check out my friends site. I typed in a couple of friends names to see if they had an account as well, well they do and so does everyone else in this world!! I guess I was out of the loop again. I've spent about an hour of my day today and yesterday on that dang facebook, I thought blogging was addicting but I found something just as addicting. I feel bad for my kids, sorry kids, mommy's busy!!

Our MLK Day Adventure

We woke up this morning and decided today would be a good day to go find some snow since Brad was off work and the kids were out of school. Brad and his brothers went hunting on Saturday and found some snow up where they were, about an hour away from town, so we headed off to find it. We get a couple of miles from the spot we were looking for and Brad's car starts to slide, we were on a little road high up on a mountain, so I was a little nervous! He tries to put it in 4 wheel drive and thinks he puts it in 4 wheel drive but it didn't work, so now we are getting a little closer to the side of the mountain and the tires are spinning and the car is going the opposite direction of what Brad is trying to steer it to. I am clenching on to the door handle, Brad says relax but how can you relax when the car is heading near the edge and the car is slipping. We decided to get me and the kids out while Brad gets the car in control, but no such luck. He puts it in reverse and this is where the car ended up. Against the mountain and now only one tire would spin and and it is only making us sink into the icy sludge more!

  

Needless to say Brad was a little angry and not just because we were stuck, but because the guy who sold him his precious Land Cruiser lied and said the 4 wheel drive worked really well. Not!!!

Here are my little ones climbing up a mountain while daddy tried to get the car unstuck. They were climbing up to a little patch of snow which was actually Ice.

After pushing the car backwards and a few choice words. We got the car to slide down the hill to where the tires had traction. On our way back down the mountain my kids were a little sad that we had to leave so Brad drove off the road and said who wants to try and shoot my gun. (Which was only in the back of his car because he went hunting on Saturday, he doesn't just pack it around.) All of the kids got excited and said they wanted to do it. So Brad set up a coke can for a target and asked who wanted to shoot it, everyone said Not Me! Carsyn being my brave girl said she would try. All it took was one shot and the noise of the gun scared the rest of the kids, so no one wanted to do it anymore. 

Here are my silly kids.

Here is Carsyn trying to shoot the gun.

And here are the boys covering their ears since it was so loud!

After our little outing we promised we would take the kids to see Paul Blark Mall Cop, the line at the movie theater was sooooo long and as I near the front of the line they put a sign in the window that says Mall Cop Sold Out! What!! So we had to go to another theater that is a little scarier than the other one but we got right in! The movie was funny but the previews showed most of the funny parts, it did cuss a little too much for a PG movie, what is this world coming to! So we had a fun filled day and my kids are exhausted! Yes time to put the kids to bed and watch a good movie with my red head.

Oh and I want to wish my brother John a happy 36th birthday. Happy Birthday John!

Fave Foto Friday

Now this is a sad picture, my kids have never been to the snow, Caden did once when he was about 9 months old, I don't think that counts. So one day our old neighbor"s friend came home from snowboarding with his truck full of snow. He made a little hill and we got out my snowboard and this was the scene people saw, while driving down our street that day:

My kids loved it, but can you say we are Red Necks! So this brings me to another blessing of mine, Living in a town where it doesn't snow! Although I don't mind visiting the snow, I wouldn't like to live in it. I get too cold as it is!

Help Me

I have to teach a lesson in Relief Society in February and I have to pick a topic and teach on it. Anyone have a good idea for me, maybe a lesson you really enjoyed or something you would want to hear about??? I have no idea what I should talk about, Please help me and preferably it is a topic that won't make my tears start to flow! Let me know if anyone has any ideas! Thanks.

Fave Foto Friday

Need I say more:

Old family photos are always great. Check out my hair! Sweet!!!!

My cousin's wife Krissi is posting a picture a week for 52 weeks of all her many blessings. I will try to do it too, so this picture is also something I am blessed with, old pictures of my family, they always make me laugh!

Birthday Party #2

Nixon wanted to have a party with his friends from school.

We had donuts instead of cake, at their age everyone wants to blow the candles out so Chunky and Kaylee got a candle to blow out too.

Chunky playing pin the sign on Batman. They all won since they didn't want to be blindfolded. Cute kids.

Nixon opening his gifts and kaylee and Chunky helping him.

Now we are done with Nixon's birthday. We have birthdays and an anniversary every month now until summer.  I think that's why the second half of the school year goes by so quickly for me!

Happy 4th Birthday, Nixon!

Nixon turned 4 today! He is such a joy to be around and we are so glad to have him in our family. I had my hardest pregnancy with Nixon. I was sicker than ever and I couldn't wait to be done with being pregnant! He finally came and he weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long! My biggest baby. He is growing up so quickly! We love you Nixon, Happy Birthday!

Here is Big brother Caden, holding baby Nixon with the help of Granny.

Nixon 

Nixon has always loved to dress up and I think he lived for at least 2 years in cleats and baseball socks!

Even though Nixon doesn't enjoy playing on a team yet, 

he still loves to dress the part!

Our Big 4 Year Old!

The Recent Happenings

Nixon turns 4 on the 6th of January. We had a little family party for him on Saturday since Brad works during the week. He wanted a mixed up party. First he wanted a pirate party, then he said, no I want a batman party, last he said, no I want a transformer party, so he had all three and loved all of it. I can't get my kids away from wanting a pinata for their parties, they looove them. I even offered to take him to Chuck E Cheese but he said  no I want a pinata at our house! I give up!

It seems like Christmas all over again, toys and wrapping paper everywhere! I wish his birthday was further away from Christmas, it's hard to pick out anything for him since he just got so much from everyone for Christmas.

We spent New Year's Eve with Brad's brother Greg's family. The kids actually stayed up late this year, normally we set the clocks forward so they think it is midnight but actually it is 10:00. I don't know why we let them stay up late this time, they are always so grumpy the next day, when they stay up to late!

We watched the ball drop on t.v and the kids banged pots and pans, when did that ever become a tradition?

Nixon, Carsyn and Avery playing the xbox and waiting for it to be New Years!

The day after Christmas we went to the mall to return a few things, and Carsyn said she wanted to pay to get her ears pierced. She was so brave, she didn't even get tears in her eyes!

Caden acts so silly some times. He and some of his cousins were playing up stairs and he came down dressed like this. He had on about 20 of his t-shirts and said he was trying to break the world record for wearing the most shirts. He saw the world record holder on youtube and wanted to break his record, he was about 204 shirts shy of the record! What a cutie!

Here is the world record holder, I don't know how people come up with some of these world records that they have, but some of them are really strange!