Soccer 2010

Avery lost another tooth. The tooth fairy is feeling overworked.

Soccer is finally over. While I might be glad, I know Austin is not, and Avery doesn't care either way. She enjoys it when she is out there, but it is not her favorite thing to do. Austin, on the other hand, is a die hard sports fanatic like his dad. I'm sure Nolan is glad it is over. Just another thing he is left out on. Garrett is definitely glad it's over. Along with football, this fall season has worn us all out, but especially dad. So yeah for fall sports being over! It was fun while it lasted, don't get me wrong. I enjoy watching the kids play. They are understanding the game more and more and it is so fun to watch them excel. Austin loves to play goalie. I think the gloves are a good motivator. Avery was queen of missed shots this year. She had the most shots on the team, but not all of them went in. She did good. Austin is getting more aggressive and getting more touches in every game. We are proud of both of our soccer players. We are proud of daddy coach too who helped out with Avery's team. She really enjoyed having her dad out there.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The kids had a great Halloween! They were so into it this year. It was so fun to watch them and enjoy it with them. We spent about two hours out in our driveway carving pumpkins today. Avery did hers all on her own. She is my independent girl. I helped Nolan do his pumpkin face, and while I was doing Austin's grand pirate ship, Nolan continued to stab his pumpkin with whatever carver he could get his hands on. When he was done doing that, he went into asking me every 5 seconds when he was going to get to do a pirate ship. Austin helped with the pirate ship as much as he could and it turned out awesome. He had to show all of the neighbors. He is such a social bug.

So we usually go out in the beginning of November and I let the kids pick out their costumes. So at the beginning of October Nolan sees this Darth Vador costume at Toys R Us and he begs and begs for it until we finally do our costume trip. We could not find a Vador costume that fit him, so we bought one that was way too big. I did my best to alter it. I must say, I'm pretty proud. A couple of days ago, it did start coming apart, but my quick fix was successful. I thought it was funny that he chose Vador because he is my most mischievous child at times.

Austin picked out a Star Wars bounty hunter costume that cost me $40. It was a little big, but not too bad. I was able to alter it a little, but it was still a little baggy. Unsatisfied, he decides to wear Spider man. It was pretty cool though, because him and Avery were both super heroes.

Avery wanted to be a few different things, but when we got to the store, Wonder Woman is what she picked. It was awesome that she picked that because during school last week they had a super hero dress-up day for Red Ribbon week, so Avery and Austin got to go as super heroes. So cool!

I was proud of Austin this year. He got over his fear of the pumpkin guts and touched it a little bit!

Avery loves the pumpkin guts, and bugs, and frogs. Like mother, like daughter.

The first thing the kids wanted to do this morning was art. They sat there for such a long time painting and drawing. Even Nolan got into it. I'm glad that they like that kind of stuff. It was such a beautiful day today. I'm glad we got to spend a lot of time outside too!

Yesterday, I finally pulled Avery's tooth out. Before that, we went to Audrea's baby shower and my mom and all of her sisters were telling stories about teeth and what happened when they were little. Avery wanted that tooth out so bad. When we got back to mom's she kept wiggling it and trying to get it out. Finally I got tired of the drama and pulled it out. She cried. She said that it scared her a little bit. The fear of the unknown....and the blood. She finally got over it though and tells everybody. My kids aren't afraid to share.

After Avery had her tooth out and we were taking pictures, Nolan so wanted his picture taken.

Before the pull.

The kids have been playing so well together. Last night Austin wanted to sleep in Nolan's bed with him. At first they started out with their heads at seperate ends of the bed. When I went in there, this is what I found. Avery, I'm sure was socializing and probably fell asleep in the middle of a sentence. I swear, these kids talk all of the time.

New

We are all finally settling into our new routines this year. I knew it was going to be a challenge and still is, but we are smack dab in the middle of busy and still treading water. At times I just want to curl up in my bed and refuse to get up, but that will never happen I know until Nolan is out of the house.

Garrett is in the middle of football season. They just lost to L.P. last night (first time in 8 years) and it has been a rough day for him getting over football drama.

Austin and Avery are loving kindergarten and their teacher Mr. K. He has been really good for them. They come home every week with new songs and things that they have learned. We get invited to lots of parties with other students. It is cool to make new friends and meet new people. School has definately added more busy-ness, more excitement, more trials, and more memories to our family.

Avery has turned into our little writer. Rarely do I see her now without and pencil, crayon, magnedoodle, or other writing utensil in her hand. She writes stories, colors and draws all of the time.

Austin is still our little sports nut. He loves soccer. He has a great coach and a great team this season. He was so disappointed today when his game was cancelled because of rain. Austin is enjoying school, but is not taking up writing like Avery. He is very social I hear and is in the middle of whatever is the most interesting at the time. Austin came home this week with a card in his backpack from a girl in his class. It was an apology card that said that she was sorry for hitting Austin at school. She hit him in the face because Austin was trying to get her to follow directions in class. Poor kid. We have been drilling him since he was 2 or 3 about how important it is to listen and follow directions. I guess it has sunk in a little. Another one of Austin's favorite things to do is ride his bike. Right when we get home, he gets out of the car, puts on his helmet, and jumps on his bike. All boy.

Nolan is enjoying flying solo at Sharon's. They tell me he is a different person when his siblings are not around. I believe it. Without them, there is no reason to fight for attention. Nolan has been my buddy this fall. Him and I have the most time in the car together and spend our time hauling the twins around to soccer, school, parties, and field trips. He is as tired of it as I am. He is feeling a little cheated because he has had nothing of his own to do since August. He has been begging to get back to gymnastics, practice soccer with Austin and other things. We finally got him signed up for a one day basketball camp he could do with his brother and he has been so excited about it. They get to go tomorrow.

Me, I am a tired, over worked, over irritated, under rested wife, mother, teacher, housekeeper, cook, taxi driver, amoung other things I can't put into words. It has been a very hard fall for me. My house is never even close to clean, I haven't gotten a break in who knows when. Why anyone would want to be within yards of me is beyond my understanding. I am trying my best to have patience and have a good attitude, but I just can not wait for football and soccer season to be over. Then maybe I can feel a little bit closer to normal. Maybe.

So since we have been so busy and me so happy, I haven't gotten a lot of pics lately, but here are a few highlights of the fall season.

Grami, Grandpa, Dennis, Briley, the kids and Garrett and I made it to the Gridley Fair this year. We all had a great time. We rode the ponies, rode the nasty rides, ate good food, and loved playing on the tractors. woohoo

The boy at the bottom of the picture (above) is just some random kid whose parents were not polite enough to get him out of the way. I hate that.

Shasta had a pumpkin decorating contest at school. The kids were so excited about entering the contest. There was money for the first, second and third place winners and over 100 entries. All three of the kids had a blast decorating their pumpkins and they wanted so bad to win. When we got there and put their pumpkins out to be judged I felt so bad because there were some awesome pumpkins that you could tell were all done by adults (anyone could enter). It is amazing what a meezly $50 will do to people. Anyways I felt so bad because there was only a few pumpkins that you could tell were decorated by actual students at the school with very little help. It didn't seem to bother the kids that bad and Avery said that her friend voted for her. I am just so proud of my kids for getting involved and putting their hearts into everything they do.

(Above) So we went to the pumpkin patch with the kindergarten class. The kids got to ride in a school bus. They had a blast. Avery was so proud of her pumpkin that she took pictures of it and herself. Here is one of her self portraits.

(Below) Avery realized last weekend that she had a loose tooth and we found new teeth growing in. She spend two or three days wiggling her tooth and talking about wiggling her tooth. It was so funny. She still hasn't lost it yet, but she has stopped making a big deal out of it for now. Thank goodness. Austin found some new teeth growing in too. He teeth aren't real loose yet. Pictures of Austin's teeth to come.

(BElow) I can't believe how much my boys care about what they wear. This is Nolan's third or fourth Star Wars shirt. He loves Star Wars. He is going to be Darth Vador for Halloween. Go figure. Austin carefully picks out his clothes for school every day. One of his new shirt is a button up plaid and he loves to wear that and a pair of jeans and his fire belt. He so wants to be a cowboy. I still haven't gotten him a pair of cowbow boots that he has been begging for forever. Another mother from Austin's class actually told me that she thinks Austin dresses so cute. I hope they always care about what they wear. I love it when they look cute. I know that they have better fashion sense than I do anyway.

Hard

I knew this school year was going to be a very challenging year and I tried to work myself up to it and be prepared, but I am really struggling with everything lately. I vowed to be the best teacher I can be and not put up with any crap in my room. I was not a push over in the past, but I am just to the point in my career and life, that even the littlest crap I am not tolerating. I want every student to have a chance to learn and not have to try and block out another student while they are being distracting. Well, lets just say it is going to be a long haul. Freshmen love to talk and be crazy. High school is a new experience and they are just so engrossed in the social life. Talking, and getting attention however they can. So I am trying my best. I second guess myself a lot, but there is 180 days of trying in me right now. I don't care how hard it is going to be.

The twins are doing so good in school. It amazes me how much they have learned already. I am enjoying seeing them grow so much. I am so proud of them. They jump right in with courage and determination and it is so awesome to see them excell. Nolan is growing into his own little independent person. No more sissy and bubba by his side. It is so different to go to daycare and pick my one little kid up. We are so spread out it makes me nervous. All 5 of us go off every day to our own little worlds. It makes me sad sometimes. Feels like we are growing apart. I am so thankful though that we all come home every night and enjoy each others company, spend time together, share about our days and what we did and learned and just chill together. These are the best of times. I know it goes by fast, but I hope that we can still come home every night for the next 18 years and be able to share and listen and understand and love each other.

I thank the Lord every day for my family and our love that we share. I am so blessed to have Garrett and the kids. I pray that we can always be safe. That the kids will be able to grow up and make good choices and live a full life. I pray for my little family that I love. Bless them.

We Made It!

We have about an hour before bed time and we made it through mom's first day of work. I am so proud of my kids. They are so easy and they have taken every change in the past month in stride. Only a little tired and grouchiness to deal with, but they came around fast. They were so tired this morning. We all lost at least an hour or two of sleep. They should all go out when they go to bed.

I just remember when I went to school. I cried on the first day of kindergarten. I cried when my grandma had to drop me off and a big school bus honked at her. I cried when I had to be in a 4th 5th combo when I was in 5th grade. Everything turned out good and I loved school. Obviously. I love the smell of a classroom before the students come and stink it up. I love learning. I love math. I love high school sports. It is just fun! It is nice to know that with all of the trials and challenges, I do love my job and it makes me want to be a better teacher.

Change

We finally got the mom take the kids to school and stay at home with Nolan routine down, and now it's time for change again. Tomorrow is a big day. Mom goes back to work, Nolan goes to daycare, and dad drops the twins off at Nana's so she can take them to school and pick them up. I am hoping that another change won't rock our boat too much. It took about a week for everyone to get used to kindergarten. The kids were just weird for a week. Avery was really moody, Nolan really winey, and Austin likes to make Avery even more moody. Needless to say, I am not getting any sleep tonight. This year is going to be the hardest. I just pray that all problems are resolved, no one gets really sick, time flies by so we can see June again. Then we can relax a year and then send Nolan to kindergarten. Change is good, just hard. I know we will make it.

The Last Day of Summer Vacation

I know my posts are kind of out of order. The first day of school is after this, don't forget to look at that. Yesterday we went to Hooker Oak Park and had a picnic and played at the creek. Avery was in charge since she just got do with camp Chi-da-ca a couple of weeks ago. Camp Chi-da-ca is held at the park, so she showed us the best spot to play in the creek. We had fun getting out of the house and relaxing for a couple of hours. Even Uncle Chris showed up for a few minutes.

The last three pictures are of Avery at Camp Chi-da-ca on the last day. The did a little bit of singing for the parents after we all had a picnic at camp. The two girls Avery is in the picture with are Merced and Audrey. Two girls that were in her camp group, "The Serious Crickets". Avery's name was, Bumblebee Avery. Avery loved the singing at camp. She is still singing those silly songs. She said her favorite part of camp was swimming in the creek.

First Day of Kindergarten

The day we have been anticipating is finally here, the first day of kindergarten! It came and went without a hitch. Thank goodness. Garrett and I were as nervous as the kids were, but we all pulled through. Even Nolan made it while asking for Austin and Avery only a few times. He really missed them. Their kindergarten teacher's name is Mr. Kostelec. Austin said he is a very nice man. Austin came home with a girlfriend named Natelie. Avery came home and said that some boy said he liked her hair-do. They were excited and told me many things about school. I hope the kids love school as much as I did. I hope they have a great year, make new friends and make new memories in their new chapter of life!

Summer Fun

So I vowed to do more girlie things with Avery (being the tomboy I am). The boys went to gymnastics and Avery and I had an hour at home by ourselves. This was a great opportunity for girl time. Avery wanted her hair curled so we curled it. It took us the whole hour. Then we painted our toe nails on the back porch. As soon as the boys got home, the kids played in the water and the curls were gone. A whole hour of curling, but it was the time spent together that counts!

Garrett also took the opportunity to plan some boy time. He took the boys to get golf clubs on the way home. Austin was stoked. Now he can go golfing with dad! They all tried out the clubs in the back yard. I though Nolan was going to take someone's head off.

We also had some family time this last week. We took the kids bowling and had a great time.

My Family

Another sleepless night. I took an Excedrin PM, but I don't know, maybe it hasn't kicked in or something. Anyways, while lying in bed I couldn't help but think of my family and how much I love them. Summers are the best because we are all home together and we have the opportunity every day to do things together. I know we are blessed that way because some families don't have that. I look at my husband of nine years and thank the Lord that I have him. He is my strength. Some days I think that without him I would be on the couch all day watching life pass me by. He is my motivator and my best friend. He supports me in everything I want to do and is there for me when I need him. I love Garrett so much.

Nolan, my baby. He is my growth. Wherever I am, he is right there at my side. Our favorite spot is the couch. If I even sniff the couch, he is right there ready to sit and relax with me. He loves hair and the couch is the perfect place for him to play with it while he is sucking his thumb. What a character my youngest is. He just comes out and says and does funny things all of the time. He is such a dare devil too. He jumps in the pool with no life jacket and no idea how to swim and just expects to be o.k. I hope that I am always there to catch him until he figures out what dangerous means. I love my baby.

Avery, my only girl. She is so smart and such a good girl. Avery is quick to do whatever I ask her most of the time. She loves to do school work. She could read and write for hours. She is so independent most of the time, but tries to get attention when she thinks she needs it. Her and I don't spend enough girl time together. Starting school in three weeks, I know she will do well. She always strives to do her best. Avery is a lot like me in that she stresses about things. She doesn't like when there are bad feelings in the room and she feels sorry for people who have bad things happen to them. I love that girl.

Austin, oh Austin. What a quick thinker he is. Always working his mom and dad to get his way. He comes at us in so many different directions. It makes it hard, but it just goes to show that his brain is always working. I do feel for his teachers because they are in for a lot of answering to, as far as Austin goes. Austin loves sports and is athletic. Anything he does, I can tell it just comes natural to him. He will always have his dad there to push him along and give him pointers. Dad is already looking at a golf set and Austin cannot stop talking about it. I love my little athlete.

The Fourth of July and More!

For the Fourth of July we went to an Angels game. It was awesome. The Angels won 11-0 and there were a few homeruns. Whenever there is a homerun there were fireworks that went off. After the game we stayed for a fireworks show which was even more awesome than the game. Notice that we all have patriotic shirts. That is really good for me!

Above is the kids right before we went into Turtle Talk. Avery didn't want to go because she never gets picked to talk to crush. I told here she had a better chance to get picked because of her beautiful dress and pretty bow in her hair. She got picked!!! She asked Crush what his favorite food was!

Every time Nolan saw a character at Disneyland it was always too late to get a picture with them. This time we were in the front of the line to see Woody. Definately one of Nolan's favorites!

So we go to see another show and Avery got picked again to go on stage with some entertainers and sing a line in a song. She looked so scared. She did finally sing her line on the second or third try and then the singer gave Avery a picture of Mickey. During the show Cinderella showed up and we get a picture! Good day for Avery!

Whenever we wanted to do big rides, someone had to opt out and do a little ride with Nolan. Most of the time it was me and Nolan going on Matterhorn while the others did something else, but this time Garrett took Nolan on Pooh while the kids and I want on Splash (my fav)!



World of Color was cool, but not worth all of the trouble. (A whole nother story)

We all love bugs land because everyone can ride the rides! Austin loves the catterpillar because he burps like 3 or 4 times.

Avery, Nolan and I went on Matterhorn the most. Here we are in line yet again.


The twins!



Splash, my favorite ride. We got wet of course. Austin was brave and I didn't have to hold him!

Fantasmic was another highlight of our trip. I didn't get a picture, but we were front and center for the show. We loved it!

Back to reality. We are all trying to recover and get back into a summer rountine, which is always hard to do!