The Thomas Crew

Max's Thanksgiving Preschool Presentation

2010-12-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

Max and his preschool friends, Max, Maya and David and his friend Cooper!!

Max and his teacher Miss Lisa!
Max really likes her :)

Max and his drum that he made in preschool.

They sang some songs and then did a rain dance!!!

Nana and Papa were in town so they came and watched too :)

Football season!!

2010-10-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hudson decided that he wanted to play football this year instead of baseball.

So we signed him up for flag football with a few of his friends from Scouts. He really likes it and its great exercise.

The first few games were sooo hot. We all were sweating on the sidelines!! 114 is not football weather. We keep hoping that each Saturday it will cool off more. This weekend it is supposed to cool off to the 90's so we are super happy. We had to go out and buy a sun umbrella to keep the majority of the sun off while watching so we didnt all come home with heat stroke. Other parents bought those portable gazebos!!

Since he has such big hands, he makes a great center. He hasn't had a fumble yet to his QB!!

Also, he does a great job of blocking people from sacking his quarterback as well :)

Run Hudson...

The fans...cheering on the Cowboys!
In this league, parents get geared out in the NFL team colors/jerseys of their son's football team. This season his team was the Dallas Cowboys.

Hudson and his team mates coming to the sideline for a well deserved drink!

Max's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Max's preschool went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch today and they had a lot of fun!!

The farm they visited had animals, go-karts that you could pedal, a cool cow train made out of barrels painted like a cow, a play ground, a hay and corn maze, awesome kettle corn and of course pumpkins!!!

Riding on the go-kart

Petting the donkey

Riding on the cow train!!

Max with his friends, Maya, Cooper and Max.

Our Max is called Max Thomas by all of his friends so eveyone doesn't get he and Max Martin mixed up!!

Kids and the puppies

2010-08-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Friends of ours breed Yorkies and Boxers and they asked if the kids would like to come over and see the puppies and to also see/feed the chickens, goat, ducks and horses. My kids are totally city kids and to do this is an exciting and new experience for them. They had a BLAST!! Click on the picture and it will take you to the photo album of the evening with the puppies and the farm!!! Thanks Jackie for being such a great friend and loving my kids so much :)

Back to School 2010

2010-08-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

The kiddos on the first day of school August 11, 2010.

Max didnt start until the following Monday, but the older three started on Wednesday.

There were all so excited and were anxious to get back to school to see friends and to get back into the busy life known as school.

Max -first day of preschool, Monday August 16th. To say he was excited would be an understatement.

This was his first year of preschool and he is going to Miss Lisa's Lively Learners preschool. He LOVES his backpack and was so proud to have one like the older kids.

The older turkeys goofing off outside the house before school.
See Dad, i havent killed my grass yet with my sprinkler system broken!!!

Tori- starting first grade!! (with half of her teeth missing, haha!)

Emily - starting fifth grade!!

Hudson - starting fourth grade!!

Tori Graduates Kindergarten!!!

2010-06-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tori getting her kindergarten certificate and memory book.

Tori and Miss Born. She LOVES her teacher!!!

Tori and Cruz.
Tori's first 'boyfriend'

Tori and her good friend Jesslyn.

Tori and her buddy Emma!

Tori's kindergarten teacher this year was amazing. She and her teacher's aid Mrs S threw an amazing party for the kids with cake and treats.

They made a memory book for each of the kids that the kids got to have their friends sign the next day.

Tori was totally destroyed the next day when i picked her up from school, when she realized that Miss Born would no longer be her teacher.

Emily's Recorder Concert

2010-06-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

The fourth grade classes did a recorder concert for the parents. I was impressed with how good they sounded. I was waiting to hear the sqwaks and squeeks but didnt hear many if any!!!

It was a 25 minute concert which was very enjoyable :)

Auntie Mel Comes for a Visit!

2010-06-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

Auntie Mel came for a visit and we all went out to dinner.

The kids loved that she came and visited us and its even better now that she lives in town.

We need to go over and see her new apartment and meet her brother and sister in law.

Emm and Auntie Mel :)

Auntie Mel and Tori :)

Hudson's Third Grade Music Performance!

2010-06-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

All of the third grade classes at Boulder Creek Elementary had a musical night.

All of the classes sang some songs together and then they each had a song which featured each class. Hudson's class did, We're Making Music. He played a drum which im sure he loved!!

They helped paint their shirts with black music notes. It must have been put on with washable paints because the first time i washed it the notes pretty much disappeared to a shadow of

grey :(

Hudson on the hand drum. Along side his friend Nicholas and Carlos.
Those three are inseparable.

Hudson Receives His Wolf in Scouts!!

2010-06-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hudson received his Wolf badge in May! He worked really hard had a lot of fun earning this badge.

He got his Wolf ears and the stamp on his back and then had to find his badge, which was hidden.

Finding his badge.

Giving mom a pin as well.

Shooting the bow to receive his arrow points.

He shot that bow very well :)

Fly Me To The Moon

2010-06-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Emm's dance for Fly Me To The Moon

2010-06-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Gila Valley LDS Temple had an open house for the public before its temple dedication on May 23, 2010 so we took the kids up to see what the inside of the temple looks like.

They see us going to the temple all the time and we always go to the Christmas lights during the holidays as well as some weekend afternoons we take the kids down for a walk around the temple grounds.

It was a two and a half hour drive up to Pima AZ but it was a very pretty one. Neither Jason or I had travelled that way before so it was a new experience for all of us.

Once we got there, we watched a video and then they walked us all over to the temple so we could walk through.

The kids thought it was neat to put the booties on before going in. Tori said it was just like when we took her preschool on a field trip to Grandpa's hospital.

It was beautiful inside and the chandelier in the Celestial room was awe inspiring.

It was a small temple in comparison to the Mesa temple, but it was beautiful as well.

Max thought the font with the twelve oxen holding it up was pretty neat. He wanted to go 'swimming' in the font, haha.

It was a great tour and then we went over to the Stake center for cookies and water.

While taking this photo it was obviously dark and i was walking in the middle of a famer's field and not paying attention to where i was walking and fell into an irrigation ditch. I ended up landing on my left hand and i felt something pop in my hand around my pinky and i still cant move it very well but oh well, it will heal :) My shoe went flying and i took a total header. I guess back in the car Emm shouted to Jason, "Dad, Mom fell in a hole!" He looked down and didnt see me and was like, What the heck...!!!!

I crawled my way back out and back to the truck and dusted myself off. I hurt but I was more glad that it was dark and hopefully no one else saw my terribly 'graceful' moment, haha.

It was a long drive home and the kids watched the Tooth Fairy on the laptop. We discovered that Max gets terribly car sick if he watched a movie and Tori got a bit queasy herself.

No throwing up but super super close!!!

It was a wonderful evening and we are glad that we went.

Emily and I attended the temple dedication ceremony at our stake center. Hudson and Jase were going to come as well but Hudson ended up having some breathing problems and Jason offered to stay home with him.

What a wonderful blessing this new temple is!!

Uncle Ty turns 26!!

2010-06-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Uncle Ty turned 26 on May 7th but we had our party on thre following Tuesday due to his work schedule. Auntie Katie made him a delicious castle birthday cake!

The candles were trick candles that when you blew them out they relit!!
The kids thought that was pretty cool.

The candle that wouldnt go away!!

Emily's Dance Competition

2010-06-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Emily's dance company entered into a dance competition here in Gilbert AZ and they performed several dances. Emm's group, the Hotshots, did Fly, a lyrical number, Fly me to the Moon, a jazz number and Calle Ocho, which is a group jazz number. It was a long day but a lot of fun to watch!

Emm with her three gold ribbons!!

The group with all the trophies!!

My running boards!!!!!

2010-05-10T16:51:00.001-07:00

Ever since we bought our truck in Dec 08 i had wanted to have running boards put on .

Our good friends the Hessons had some computer problems and Jason fixed their computer for them and in return, Craig who works for a car dealership, picked us up some running boards for my truck. I was so surprised!! It was nice to have both men be able to help each other out :)

My big surprise came when my hubby...Mr I Have NO IDEA What a Power Tool Is, went out in the garage, grabbed the socket set and a few other tools and installed my running boards HIMSELF!!!! I was so proud and impressed.

I mean he can fix almost anything the happens to a computer and make a computer do almost anything he wants but to actually install my running boards, i was in awe. (So was his dad and my dad, hahaha)

Anyway, thanks Jase, Love ya!!!

And yes, they are still on and doing great!

Mom and Dad's Visit

2010-05-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of May, Deb's parents came for a visit in and drove down from Kelowna BC Canada with their truck and fifth wheel and stayed for three weeks. It was a great visit and we all had a lot of fun!!

A few weeks before they were to come down i was at a country market at the rv resort they were going to stay at first and i saw this man making signs for trailers/5th wheels etc and i thought, hey, what a great idea. Everyone around the park had a sign stating what their name was and where they were from. So, they got theirs to fit in :)

The sign and their 5th wheel.

The kiddos and Hudson after his pack meeting. He recieved a bunch of awards.

Tori and Max at the Boulder Creek Bone-anza at their school. It was really neat. Their field was filled with bouncers and had a dj and bbq it was a blast. It was great that my parents were able to join us to come to it.
Tori and Max got their faces painted like Bulldogs, the school's mascot.

My parents and the grandkidlets at Jason's parents' house.

Our crew

The kids in the hot tub at one of the rv resorts. It was too hot to be in a hot tub in my opinon!!!

My mom golfing!!

My parents wanted to buy new golf clubs while they were down here so we spend several days looking for a good deal on some good clubs. In the end they got an amazing deal and then we spend their last two mornings out on the golf course!!

It was fun spending time with my parents and beating the crap out of that little white ball.

Grandpa's Birthday :)

2010-03-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

Grandpa has his birthday on Dec 30th and this year all of the kids and their kids, chipped in to get him a cool birthday gift.

We got him the Joseph Smith Papers dvd set. It is a documentary dvd set. He is a big movie buff and already had the book so we figured, hey why not!!

We hoped that he liked it. Maybe we will have to borrow it and watch it one of these days!!

It was a super quick visit with Grandpa since he got sick over the holidays and wasn't feeling too hot. Maybe he could watch these in bed :)

Knitting with Nana!

2010-03-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

My mom will be the first to tell you that i am definately NOT a knitter. I have crocheted a few blankets but knitting and i just dont seem to do well together. My girls have asked me to teach them and i tell them to ask Nana when she comes to visit.

This visit, Nana taught Emm and Tori to knit. Emm already knew how to knit from previous visits but this time she got help casting on and off and before long was doing it by herself!! Tori just learned the basics. They both did a great job!!

Tori knitting!!!

(Emm was in the other room playing the piano!!)

The Piano!

2010-03-28T17:41:00.001-07:00

For Christmas this year Jason and I asked Emily and Hudson if they wanted to get a keyboard from Jason and I as a joint gift this year. They both said, YES!

So, we picked up this keyboard for a really good price and they both love learning to play it. My friend and our hairdresser, Alicia is teaching them how to play. I just wish they had more time to practice more!!! This summer for sure!

We opted for a keyboard over an actual piano so that when the kids or Jason or I are practicing we can put on headphones and not bother the rest of the house!!!

The budding Beethoven's!!

Nana's Birthday :)

2010-03-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Nana and Papa (aka Deb's parents) were leaving to head back home before Nana's actual birthday (Dec 29th) so we had a cake and gave her gifts to her early!!!

The kids picked out the cake, chocolate of course...

A few months earlier I was trying to think of an idea of what to do for the grandmother's birthdays this year and i thought of making them a blanket. Hudson's baseball coach's wife, Miss Lisa, was making a fleece tie blanket one day at practice and she said it was super easy to do, so i figured, what the heck, lets make them each on of those.

So, off the kiddos and i went to Jo-Ann's Fabric store and picked up some fleece. The kids decided what colors and designs best suited each grandma.

Both got the same colored backs, pink, yellow, white and blue stripes, and then the fronts were...

Purple background with penguins for Nana and for Gram it was pink princesses.

Jason and I cut and tied it and it was easy but after cutting through that much fleece you hand tended to hurt a bit!!!

I think Nana liked hers. It sure was cozy and warm. Should come in handy for those cold British Columbia nights when she is watching one of her reality shows!!! She can be cozy warm and think of her grandkiddos!!!

Emily also wanted to give her an Arizona Desert Dance t-shirt. It is from her dance company.

The kids helping Nana blow out her candles!! "Max, please don't spit too much!!!!!"

Her birthday blanket!!

Her new dance t-shirt!!!

Laminate for Christmas!!!!

2010-03-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Jason and I talked long and hard about getting laminate put in our front room for a long time and this year we figured that since my parents were coming down, along with my little brother, we would put them to work and get it done!! We used some of our Christmas money from Jason's parents and had a blast installing it.

A friend of ours, Kaleb and his dad helped us install it as well. Kaleb is a home reno expert and has a trailer for his truck equipped with saws and all kinds of gadgets so we traded him some kids toys (for his son Braden, who i babysit on Fridays) and our air hockey table. The kids were sad to see that go, but it had its time here in our house.

It was a lot of fun ripping up the carpet. Underneath there was a list written by the contractors who built this house about what was left to be done...umm yeah sure. This house was put together by monkeys in our opinions haha.

We let the kids write on the cement in sharpie markers, maybe one day someone else will read it and get a chuckle out of it!!!

I LOVED the end product!!!!

The carpet gets ripped out...

Uncle Chris writing on the floor...where he slept!!!

Hudson and Emm practicing their cursive, Tori, Jason, my mom (Nana)

Deb, my dad(Papa) and Max!

The signing process...

Getting it all in :)

Auntie Steph the Photographer!!

2010-03-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

Steph got a really nice new camera for Christmas and she was in picture taking mode all holiday season. Her camera takes great photos and my family was more than happy to be her guinea pig!!

Deb n JT

Deb and her big little brother Chris goofing around!

Deb's mom and dad.

Our family shot...

Emm and Gram

The meal!!

The kids table!

Uncle Jase and Allison!

The girlies!

The cousins!

If you look closely at the picture behind the kids, you will see an art piece that Jason's parents commissioned an artist to paint. It is of Noah's ark. It is absolutely amazing! It took the artist two years to paint it. For Christmas this year all of the boys got artist prints of this painting. Jason being the number one son, got the number one print etc. We absolutely love it. Apparently the LDS church liked it and is going to put prints in some of the meeting houses. Cool huh???!!

Our kiddos!

Three generations :)

The men!

Christmas day at Gram and Grandpa's.

2010-03-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

It was great to see all the family decked out for Christmas. My parents brought Harv down some Sweet Marie chocolate bars from Canada for his birthday on the 30th of December. You can tell by the photo that he and my dad were having some fun!!
The dinner was fabulous and we all had a great time visiting and taking pictures! The kids ended up watching a movie in the theater as the big people visited. Great end to a wonderful day.

Gifts from the Girls

2010-03-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

Emily and Tori each made Jason and I gifts for Christmas at school which they wrapped up and gave to us on Christmas morning.

Emily made a stained glass picture made out of tin foil and an image put on a clear piece of plastic that she colored to look like a poinsettia.

Tori made a calendar. For each month there are art work pieces that their class each started to make months before the holiday season.

They were both wonderful gifts which we loved very much!!

Christmas Morning!

2010-03-22T23:18:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning at our house this year was great fun!! The kids woke up and we told them that they had a present in the front room...they went in there and saw someone sleeping on the blow up bed and asked who it was and we said why dont you go find out. So they crept up and my brother uncovered his head and said, "Merry Christmas" and the kids all screamed..."It's Uncle Chris!!"
Everyone was spoiled as usual. The kids each got some pretty cool stuff from Santa...Emm got a New Moon chest full of DS games, Hudson got Rockband 2, Tori got a pink DS and Max got a firetruck! Along with many other gifts from grandparents and Jase and I.
We unwrapped all of our gifts, ate some breakfast and then proceeded to put together all those toys that needed assembly. Then everyone got showered and cleaned up to head over to Gram and Grandpa's for gifts and Christmas dinner! Even Cooper got a new doggie bed for Christmas which he seemed to love. He curled up on it and went to sleep :)

The Biggest Surprise of All :)

2010-03-22T13:29:00.001-07:00

In the fall my brother Chris asked if he could come and visit for Christmas. He said he had some holiday time he had to use and would love to come but didnt want it to be too crowded since he knew my parents were coming for the holidays.

I told him sure but we decided that we should keep it a surprise from my parents and our kiddos. I had to tell Jase's mom since she was hosting dinner but other than that the surprise went well.

After we hit Sonic, we told my parents that Jason had forgotten something at the office and had to run to get it. My parents assuming that it was a present thought nothing of it!!

Jason went to the airport to pick up Chris, whose plane was a little late but still...it was awesome!

Chris texted me that they were on their way and then half an hour later i was making my Christmas morning wifesaver and i heard a noise at the back slider door.

When i peeked out i saw my brother outside...i pulled back the blinds and then opened the slider door and at the same time said out loud..."Man its amazing what you find in your backyard!!" My parents looked up and saw that it was Chris and were in shock!

The kids were excited as well the next morning.

My parents were beside themselves with how well we kept the secret.

Best present ever...all the family together for the holidays :)

We even made him and my parents a stocking for Christmas this year that they could leave at our house for future visits!!

Christmas PJ's

2010-03-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Every year the kids get to open a pair of Christmas pajamas after we get home from the Temple and Sonic. The ones this year were really cute!! They were all so excited to get to bed so that they could be asleep when 'the big guy' made his visit.

The only sucky part about this year was that we had to give Emm the speach about 'what is real and what is not' it was so sad :( We told her that if she blew the lid on it for any of the others her presents go back!!! So far so good :)

Sonic after the lights!!!

2010-03-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

Another tradition Jase and I started a few years back was to stop and have a Holiday Blast at Sonic on our way home after seeing the Temple Lights on Christmas Eve.

This year my parents were in town so they came with us and we also invited Jason's family. Chris and Steph brought their kiddos and we had a fun time eaing ice cream OUTSIDE on Christmas Eve!!!

The kiddos!!

Emm with Nana and Papa!

The brothers! Jase and Chris. Yep can you tell they both just love having their photo taken? haha

Temple Lights on Christmas Eve

2010-03-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

It has become a tradition for our family to visit the Mesa Temple on Christma Eve to see the beautiful Christmas lights. If anyone is visiting us they come with us!!

Jason's parents always come with us as well as any visitors they have as well.

This year there was a lot of people...our family, my parents, Jason's parents, Chris and Steph and their kids and Shaun.

The kids with Nana and Papa!!

The cousins :)

Hudson and his buddy Matthew!!

Weenie Roast in December!!

2010-03-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

My parents came for Christmas this year. We were all so excited to see them again. On the night of December 21st my parents and I were trying to decide on what to have for dinner and we came up with the thought of having a weiner roast and then the kids could show my parents how to make smores.

Hudson asked if he could help my dad make the fire and together they made a great one!! Hudson was so happy that his Papa let him help!!

The hot dogs were awesome and the smores even better!!!

What a way to spend the holidays in Arizona :)

Helping make the fire!!

The two turkeys!

Roasting the hot dogs!!

Nana and Tori looking for a good spot.

Papa and Max cooking his hot dog!

The crew cookin!!

Yumm!!! Nothing better than a hot dog you cooked yourself over an open fire!!

Seeing the cousins again!!!

2010-03-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

Matthew and Hudson
Auntie Steph and Allison

Matthew, Tori and Max on the trampoline

Auntie Steph, Matthew and Allison drove up from Bryan Texas for Christmas!! Our kids were so excited to see them again.
Chris was flying up later on since he had to teach a mini-mester at university, so Steph drove all the way up by herself with two kiddos. I was so proud of her and she said the kids were really good.
Steph also didnt tell us that she was working out hardcore and had lost a LOT of weight. She looked fabulous!
Anyway...this was the cousins first day together of many over the holiday season!

Shoes??!!!

2010-03-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Max has a thing for my shoes...i'm not sure what it is, but man, every time I turn around he is in my closet putting on a pair of my shoes. I guess all the others did the same thing, but it seems like he does it more than the others haha.

I had to take a shot of this...he grabbed a pair of my red heels that are one of Jason's favorites and was more than happy for me to take his picture! One of these days this photo will come back to bite him in the butt :)

Soccer Star!

2010-03-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Tori wanted to swap over from dance to join soccer this winter. We said sure, why not. I played soccer almost all my life and Jason loves soccer as well. For our little hyper go get em kiddo she was actually rather reserved. She did do well which was great! She always loved going to her games and her best bud Bailey played as well. The two of them loved the fact that their name was on the back of their jerseys!!

Tori got a trophy at the end of the season that she was soooo proud of!!

Chandler Light Parade

2010-03-22T12:16:00.001-07:00

Emily's dance company was in the Chandler Light Parade. It is a light parade that takes place at night and all of the participants wear tiny battery powered lights. It was really neat to watch.

Each 'group' in her company dressed as a different part of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Emily was one of the Christmas dolls in the sack of toys stolen.

Two of her instructors were dressed as the Grinch, Miss Tina, and Cindy Lou Who, Miss Alyssa.

They each carried a present with lights inside that looked really cool when they did their dance routine!

My lil doll :)

Emm and three of her dance group friends, Bailee, Bailey and Ali.

Thanksgiving

2010-03-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

The kids with Gram and Grandpa
Our family Christmas photo!

For Thanksgiving Jason's parents and his brother Tyler and our sister in law Katie came over for dinner. It was delicious and it was great to spend time with our family.

Getting updated :)

2010-03-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Urgh...yes i have been neglecting my blog and have been told that by many people, so i decided to get my butt in gear and start updating...from November, yikes!!!
Sorry for the slacking...
Deb <3

It's A Parade!!

2010-03-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Emily, Kelsey and Aliya before the parade!!
Emily's dance group was in the Gilbert Days Parade on Novmber 14th!!
They did a fabulous job and had a great time!

Scarecrow Day!!

2009-11-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

Emm had an Activity Days Awards ceremony and part of the fun was she and I each getting to paint each others' faces like a scarecow. It was a wonderful day where I could get to spend time with just myself and Emily.

Emily and the pumpkin that we decorated :)

2009-11-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

It was Jase's 35th b-day and we had the family over to celebrate!

The girls made him this hat and they were so proud of it and were so excited that he wore it for them. I know he probably was a little nervous about wearing it, but it totally made the girls' day as you can see in the photo below.

The kids got Jase this really cool dragon figurine and I lucked out and picked him up a Greg Olson print. Greg Olson was at Costco and was signing his work, so I picked up one for Jase that he signed on the front and back, wishing Jase a happy 35th and then one for our family which he signed and then on the back wrote something special to our family.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2009-11-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful Sunday after church and we decided to take the kids to the school so they could ride their bikes around. It was 87 degrees and for mid Oct it was still pretty warm.

They had a blast which was why we went in the first place. We stopped at the park on the way home so they could play some more.

Some of our friends showed up a little later on and we chatted and the kids played together.

Tori on her bike, we are trying to convince he that the training wheels have got to go!!

Hudson zippin around!

Max is so excited that this year he can bring his bike and ride around with the kids. Last year he was still too small and didn't really get the concept of what made the wheels move!!

Emm and her pink bike! She, like Hudson has picked up bike riding very well and loves to jump the curbs and zoom all over.

Post Soccer Practice...

2009-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

Tori had decided that she wanted to change over from dance to soccer and so far she seems to love it. It is great for her high energy little body!!!

After practice I let the kids play at the park and on this night it was a beautiful warm night and the kids didn't want to leave!

I can't believe my baby is getting so big!!

The four turkeys!

Tori and her pink skull t-shirt with the bow on its head, she loves this shirt!

Somehow, this suits her more than a delicate dance dress, haha.

Hudson Gets His Bobcat Award in Scouts!!!

2009-09-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night Sept 15th, 2009 Hudson had his frist pack meeting and was awarded the Bobcat award for doing a lot of hard work and was able to move into Wolves.

Jason was unable to be at the meeting because of work which stunk. Hopefully he will be able to be there next time!!!

It was a really neat ceremony. Deb was instructed to paint certain symbols corresponding to the color of feathers that we put into his headband. After all of the symbols were painted, Hudson then painted a white line down his mom's nose.

We are all looking forward to all of the fun that he will have in Scouts over the years!!!

Walking over the bridge to join his den.

Hudson and his den mates!!! He is together with a really great group of boys and two good leaders. He is very excited about it, which is what is important to us the most!

Emily and Hudson Get Baptized :)

2009-09-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Sept 5, 2009 Emily and Hudson were baptized.

They were baptized and confirmed by their dad Jason.

The elders who taught Emily were Elder Mooso and Elder Pierce. They are great guys and we all got to know them pretty well :)

Gram, Grandpa and Uncle Ty came to the baptism. Auntie Katie was out of town on her Alaska cruise so she wasn't able to be there.

A friend of our family as well as one of the primary teachers Sundee Neff gave the talk on Baptism and another of our friend and the ward mission leader Mark Nielsen gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. They both did an amazing job!!!!

It was a fantastic day and we were all really excited about it!

The kiddos with Gram and Grandpa Thomas

Deb and her turkeys!

Tori and Max waiting for the baptism to start!!! (nice smile Max, haha)

Hudson's 8th Birthday!!!

2009-09-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hudson asked for a Star Wars birthday party at home for his 8th birthday!

We had a lot of fun getting things ready for this. We made light sabers for each of the kids to take home made out of pool noodles and duct tape(yep one more use for duct tape!)

We put some balloons in the trampoline and put some droid stickers inside and then if they popped the one that had the droid sticker (droid plans) then they got to pick from the bag of prizes. Usually for birthdays we fill the trampoline with balloons but it was just too hot and as it was the balloons were popping in the heat!

We had lightsaber wars, pin the explosion on the galaxy in 3D (that is what the goofy glasses they had on in the first picture were for) and then of course the pinata!

Originally Hudson thought he had wanted a baseball party so I picked up a baseball pinata for him. Of course, being a kid, they change their mind every ten seconds so in a way it worked in my favor. I took all the little white baseball tissue paper off the outside of the pinata then painted it grey and then Jase detailed it to look like a Deathstar. At least when the kids came to the party they knew what it was so it wasn't a total failure!!

Overall it was a great day and I hope everyone had fun!!

The kiddos eating pizza dogs and Yoda punch!!

The cake!!

Blowing out the candles with bunny ears!!!

The Deathstar! They first hit the pinata with their lightsabers and then we brought out the pinata bat!!

Emily beating on the Deathstar!

Max giving it to the Deathstar!! I see some breeching of the outer structure...

Hudson and his Star Wars helmet that he got from his Nana and Papa!

My New Family Home Evening Board!!

2009-09-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

For a while I have been meaning to either buy or make a Family Home Evening Board/chart so that my kiddos can know who is responsible for what on our FHE nights. It has been a little hairly lately since Jase is crunching for his game so our FHE night moves weekly, haha. Hopefully that will change soon!

I decided to make one for myself. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought my wood, pegs and stars and picked out the colors I wanted to use.

I went online and ordered the vinyl lettering from a lady in Utah (go figure!!) and then one day Emmy and I proceeded to create our board!

I used the drill to make the holes for the pegs and the holes in the stars. My dad would have been proud, haha.

Emm and I then painted it two different shades of burgandy to give it the color that we wanted. I used the olive green color on the stars because I wanted them to accent the colors that I already have in my kitchen and living room on my window treatments.

In the end she and I were very happy with our end product and finished it off with a quick spray of lacquer(sp) which i did inside...not a smart move! It was too hot outside and I didn't want it to dry too fast or attract any little bugs which would have been immortalized on our FHE board forever, haha.

It was a fun project to do with Emily and I hope she had as much fun as I did making it. I will always smile when I look at it, remembering who I made it with and the fun we had. To me that only makes it more special.

First Day of School :)

2009-08-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school and the kiddos were extremely excited to be going back. I am sure that tonight they will be exhausted.

Jason said that Tori was so eager to get to school and then when it sort of sunk in, she started to walk slower and a her look changed a bit. He said that Emily was a great big sister and took her hand when they went through the gate and showed her where she needed to go.

Can't wait until they get home so they can tell Max and I all about it and then tell it to their dad tonight when he gets home from work!!

Tori meets the kindergarten teachers!!

2009-07-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Tori and I went to her school today to meet the kindergarten teachers and for the teachers to evaluate the kids before they placed them in classes.

This was a first for us and apparently the school as well. Some other schools and districts have the kindergartners come in and meet the teachers, see the classrooms and meet some of the kids they will be going to school with before the actual first day.

Tori was sooooo excited about this. She wanted to wear a dress and look pretty.

The teachers took the kids to the classroom and the parents filled out paperwork and then watched parenting movies...it was odd but interesting. Not my way of parenting but oh well, haha.

Needless to say the kids are super excited about school starting and i'm not sure how i will handle having only Max at home with me...whatever will i do, LOL. The house will be so quiet!! Almost...heavenly?!!!

Just over a week and a half but who's counting.....

Balloon kids!

2009-07-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

No matter where we go it is pretty common to see some balloon person making balloon animals/people or whatever and OF COURSE our kids are practically on their knees begging for one. I am such a sucker for this since I think balloon animals are pretty cool, especially what they do now a days! Jason on the other hand thinks they are cool but can't stand the fact that, yes they are free but you need to tip the balloon maker and with four kids...hmmm.

We were at diner at On The Border on July 3rd enjoying some yummy Mexican food and the lady came to our table and of course I gave in and let them pick out what balloons they wanted as Jason growled from across the table at me, haha.

Tori picked a really cute pink dragon with purple wings and yellow fire coming out of its mouth, Max chose a puppy (of course), Emm picked an alien with a purple ray gun and Hudson chose an alien with a black ray gun.

They were all happy with their choices even if they only lasted for a day or two...well I think Max's was already untwisted by the ride home!!

Coop Gets A Bath!!

2009-06-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Cooper our puggle was in need of bath and I didn't feel like packing him into a hot truck to take him to the groomers chancing that he might 'puke' on the way.

So, Emmy and I decided to give him a bath at home. I had bought some doggie shampoo a while back and she held him and squirted him down with the hose and then we sprayed on some foamy soap which actually smelled really nice!!

He was a good boy!!

Let's just hope he will stay out of the dirt for at least an hour!! During the summer our grass takes a beating. I don't seed it with summer grass so it tends to die and makes our back yard a dust bowl. Add to it the upcoming monsoon season and we are looking at a mud bog which turns to hard clay within an hour of a massive rain storm!!

Foamy doggie, even his tail :)

Coop shaking it out, haha. Action shot ftw!!

The after shot. Still a little damp but a happy, sweet smelling puppy.

Father's Day

2009-06-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

I thought i would try to be a 'fun mom' this summer and do some cool crafts with my kiddos and one of our crafts was for them to each decorate their own apron. They love to help me cook and bake things so I thought what the heck, why not. Well when we were making theirs I asked them if they thought Dad might like one for when he bbq's or cooks, that isn't a girly one. They all thought it would be a cool idea so we decided to make one that would have their handprints on it so we could all look back over the years and see how they have grown. I also had them sign their own names and so they can also see how they used to write!! (well except for Max)

Jase thought it was a neat idea and seemed to like it.

It's kind of neat, both our girls are right handed and from what it looks like Max is going to join Hudson in being a lefty!!

Emily holding it up just before we brought it up the stairs to Dad for Father's Day. We also got him one of his favorite movies!!

Tori giving Dad some 'loves'. She loves her Daddy and she also loves her new dance dress that we have to force her to take off so it won't be ruined a week after her recital :)

On Sunday evening we also went over to Gram and Grandpa's to celebrate Dad's Day and we brought Grandpa two six packs of his favorite rootbeer, IBC. It has become a sort of standing gift each year!! We had a great time over at their place for a bbq and a visit with them as well as Uncle Ty and Auntie Katie.

Dance Recital 2009 :)

2009-06-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

The girls had their end of the year dance recital on Saturday June 20th at the Mesa Arts Center. They both did very well and had a great time!!

Emily had three dances she was a part of and Tori had one. For Emmy's ballet number Jason had to join her and for a part of the Josh Groban song, "So She Dances". They danced together and were awesome! It was really wonderful to watch. Jase was sooooooo nervous he wasn't sleeping for days if not a week before!! I felt really bad for him when I told him that the entire 2000 seat theater was sold out!!!

Tori and her tap costume. They did their number to 'The Curly Shuffle' She did really well :)

Emily and her friend Nicole before dress rehearsal for their tap number.

Emm and Jason before their dress rehearsal for their number!!

Emm and some of her musical theater buds doing one of their numbers.

Emm and her tap/jazz class just before they went on for their tap number the night of the show!!

Waiting backstage to go on!

Tori and Jason backstage with her flowers from her daddy :)

Emm and Tori after the show was all over with their AZ Desert Dance shirts that the studio gave them for the finale as well as their flowers from their dad and their medals from the recital. It was a very long day but it was a lot of fun.
Next year Tori decided not to do dance. She wanted to do soccer!!
Emily tried out for and got a spot on the company dance squad so she and I will be very busy when dance starts up again next month. It is kind of nice to have the month off!!

A Zoo Trip Becomes a Water Day!!

2009-06-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday the kids and I went to the zoo with our friends.

Sundee and I used to teach preschool together two years ago so Georgia and Tori are friends.(as well as being in the same primary class at church) Hudson was in the same class at school as Mallorie and the kids usually walk home with Mallorie so they were excited to get to spend the day with them! We went to visit the animals but it was such a nice day without much wind that the kids wanted to play in the water areas!! The first area we hit had a cave and some small water slide that the kids could play in and a splash pad.

Georgia, Mallorie, Emily and Hudson playing on the splash pad.

Emmy and Mallorie in the caves!

Max cheezin it in the caves!!

This photo was taken during our lunch break. I asked Hudson and Mallorie to stand up by the rhino for a photo and Mallorie put her arm around Hudson and he got all embarassed. It was priceless, she turned to him and said, "I'm your friend and friends hug!!"

After lunch we took a train ride around the zoo to finally check out some animals.

Back to another splash pad!! After lunch and the train ride the kids wanted to try out the other splash pad. Sundee and I decided why not let them get cooled off before the ride home. We hung around long after the zoo closed at 2pm until a guy told us we had to leave, lol.

In this photo Max and Hudson are waiting for the water to spurt out...

And here it comes!!!

Georgia was so cute!! She stood over the top of one of the blasts of water and it was almost like a Marilyn Monroe moment...

Sundee and Sabrina playing in the water!!!

The ride home. Max was one tired lil dude!

The Magical Wedding Reception!!

2009-05-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Katie had their wedding reception at Jason's parents house in their back yard. Wendy was in charge of the inside of the house and Katie's family decorated the backyard. Together it looked magical.

The inside was decorated with the flowers from the luncheon along with candles and the kids' favorite was pink and white M&M's with Tyler and Katie on them. Wendy allowed us to take home two of the flower arrangements to our house!!! They had photos of Tyler and Katie throughout the years set up on the island in a sea of black and pink satin, candles and flowers.

We all wore different outfits at night. Jason was one of Ty's groomsmen so he wore a tux (none of the tuxes fit very well for some reason, it really sucked but they still looked great!!) We convinced Hudson that yes, guys do wear pink!! Hey, Katie convinced Tyler and the groomsmen to all wear pink ties!!

Katie and Tyler had a chicken 'painting' table as one of the food items. The kids thought that was super cool. You picked out a skewer of chicken and then you could paint it with different sauces. My favorite was the buffalo! I love it hot!!!

The back yard was done in a beautiful decor of pinks and blacks with the coolest center pieces I have ever seen. They were made up of five pink flowers graduated in height in a rectangular vase with black stones it. I thought they looked really neat!

Another really cool idea they had was a big white screen set up with a camera with a remote button you could push to take photos with. People could go over to the camera at any time and take goofy photos, family photos...whatever you wanted. It was a lot of fun to play with.

One of Katie's mom's cousins does magic tricks and makes balloon animals so he made the kids all balloon animals. Of course the boys wanted swords so they could battle each other. I think they each went through several!! The girls opted for butterflies, monkeys in trees and catapillars.

All in all it was a beautiful event and in the end, Tyler and Katie were married and got to share a special day with their family and friends. It was also another reason for all four brothers to get together and spend some time together!!!

The Wedding Day Begins!!!

2009-05-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

After Tyler and Katie were married/sealed at the Mesa Arizona temple we had a family luncheon with our and Katie's family at Anzios Landing which is by Falcon Field in Mesa. It is a small airport and the kids were able to watch the planes take off and land while we ate.

Wendy was in charge of the luncheon and the food was fantastic and the decor was beautiful!!

The kids were very good and seemed to have great time and were well behaved. They sat by Uncle Ron (Jason's uncle from Calgary) and Great Nanna (Wendy's mom, also from Calgary) and apparently they entertained them both!!

After the luncheon we had a chance to take some photos with Tyler and Katie, the new bride and groom. Unfortunately I forgot my camera in the car when we were at the temple so I don't have any photos taken outside right after :(

It was a wonderful start to an amazing day!!!

Baby Allison and Matthew Visit

2009-05-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Our kids were so excited that their cousins Matthew and Allison came for a visit!!

Chris, Steph, Matthew and Allison were in town for Tyler and Katie's wedding. They were staying at Gram and Grandpa's until the rest of the family came into town and then they stayed at our house. Hudson was super excited to know that Matthew was going to share his room with him!

Hudson and his buddy Matthew

Emily and Allison playing peek-a-boo!

Emmy, Allison and Tori. The girls looked at Allison as their own living doll :)

They LOVE having her around and making her smile. She is such a happy baby and seemed to really like all the attention she was getting from my kiddos. We definately have to take a road trip to Texas to visit them!!!

Choir Gal

2009-05-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Emily's last honor choir concert was on Monday May 11th.

The jr and sr honor choirs sang some really great songs and it was a nice finish to the year. Emm has really enjoyed being in the honor choir and looks forward to joining sr. honor choir next year.

Getting her certificate.

On the way to the truck, saw the bouganvilla and had to take a pic by it :) I love how Arizona is decorated year round by bright, brilliant flowers.

Tori's Preschool Invades Jeepers :)

2009-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

For a year end party the moms wanted to take the kids somewhere fun!

A few of us had been to Jeepers before so we came here. For $5 for the entire day the kids could ride the rides an unlimited number of times, climb in a giant playstructure and just run around and have fun. It is an inside amusement park!! How cool is that???!!!

Yes, it was a Monday and YES Emily and Hudson did have school, but it is the last full week of school so I figured that it would be okay for them to come with us. They were pretty happy that they were included. Gotta earn that 'Mom of the Year' title some how, haha.

Max was fascinated by these jeeps that used to be where the train ride is now.

Emily and Hudson up in the top of the massive climbing/play structure.

The roller coaster. I even convinced Max to come on it with me. Traumatizing my kids at an early age!!!

My friend Sarah was kind enough to let Max go on this ride with her so I could go with Hudson and see how fast we could make these apple barrels spin...Yep they did spin pretty fast. I think at one point Hudson's face was turning a pretty shade of green and it was getting pretty hard to keep my head and body from being plastered against the side of the barrel :) Wahoo!!!

Emmy and Max on the rocket ships. Emily was such a good helper with Max. She was always offering to take him on the rides. I was really proud of her.

Max, Emmy, Tori and her buddy Brooke on the train.

Bumper cars!! The kids had a blast on these. Max was ticked that he wasn't able to go on these. Maybe next year Max :) It was a fun day followed by lunch at McDonalds...hope the kids had as much fun as I did!!

Auntie Katie's Bridal Shower

2009-05-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

The girls and I were invited to Auntie Katie's bridal shower on Saturday.

The girls were so excited to be included!!! I forgot my camera for the shower but we took this photo when we got home, before we left for our Mother's Day lunch.

The girls were asked to help out by bringing Katie her presents to open. They thought that was sooo cool. It was great to see many of the ladies who I used to know when we lived in Chandler and many of them were surprised when they realized that Katie was marrying my little brother in law! The world really is a small place :)

It was a wonderful event and I even won a prize for guess closest to the price for some groceries for Katie's pantry...i was only 41 cents off. Not bad huh?!!

Tyler and Katie made out like bandits!!! Katie told me she was excited to get over to Tyler's house to get the kitchen set up!! They will be living in the house that Tyler bought last year in Chandler.

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

My kids and hubby took me out for lunch to my favorite restaurant of all, The Olive Garden for Mother's Day. Well we went on Saturday, a day early and we actually didn't have to wait that long to get in which is a rarity for that place!! I got some beautiful flowers and the kids made me some really cute cards.

On Sunday morning Emily woke me up....urgh, early with toast and juice for breakfast in bed :) Later on Jase made us all pancakes with fruit and whipped cream, another of my favorite!!

For dinner we went over to Jase's parents and celebrated Mother's Day and Tyler's birthday together. It was a fantastic day all around.

It isn't too often that we get family pics and so we took this one before we left for lunch...not great but hey, we're all in it :)

Third Grade Visits the AZ Science Center

2009-05-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Emily's third grade class visited the Arizona Science Center for its final field trip of the year. I had the opportunity to chaperone this trip and it was a lot of fun.

Emily and Ashlynn in the digital room. This room dealt with all 'new age' computerized concepts. The girls were taking a photo of themselves and then watching as it broke apart into pieces and then was sent around the world on the internet to a new location.

The girlies in my group on ths really weird rubber mat that had two inch tall fairly hard rubber nubbs which when you stepped/laid on supported you but it just felt odd :)

Alexa, Ashlynn, Karah and Emmy

Emily on the bed of nails. You could lay upon this table and when you pushed a button 4000 nails came up out of the table. I tried it as well and it felt kind of cool. Yes the nails were pointy and once you got over the concept that all these nails were coming toward you and relaxed it was almost therapeutic!

This was a favorite of everyone! The exhibit was called The Forces of Nature and as you stood on this platform there were four large screens up high that played a movie about the weather that happens on earth. As the movie plays the platform shakes and bangs for earthquakes, it rains and wind blows for hurricanes and tornadoes, hot heat lamps come on for the desert(felt kind of like before we came inside, haha ), lights flash and the ground shakes for thunder and lightning. It was a lot cooler that it sounds and of course girls being girls screamed and screeched when the rain and major winds came.

The girls on the steps before we boarded the bus. From left to right, Emily, Tia, Ashlynn, Shayla, Alexa and Karah. They were a great group of girls and we had a lot of fun touring the center. It was nice to get to know some of the kids in Emily's class.

Emmy's Third Grade Concert

2009-05-01T12:57:00.001-07:00

Emily's third grade class had their musical presentation last night.

It was an amalgamation of all five third grade classes with a variety of the kids with speaking parts with the theme of the night being, "A Better You A Better Me." They sang and spoke about not cheating, telling the truth, being a good citizen etc.

Emily was one of the kiddos who had a speaking part and she did a fantastic job!! She spoke clearly, loudly and slow enough for people to understand what the heck she was saying, haha. When she first brought her part home and we practiced she would speak so fast that the words all jumbled together. Over the last month she kept practicing and last night I think she nailed it! I was so proud of her!!!

There were five songs and each class had a specific song where they were highlighted.

Hudson and Tori took the video camera my parents bought the kids down to the front and filmed the entire presentation. It was hilarious. I watched some of it last night and at the end of the first song the camera started shaking violently and I asked him what had happened and he said, "Oh, that must have been when i was clapping!" I had to laugh at that. He told us that he wasn't sure if he was supposed to put the camera in his lap or try to clap or not to clap at all. He added that he didn't want to be rude by not clapping. haha. That's my little man, always worried about what others are thinking. He did a pretty good job at his first movie attempt :)

Emmy and I before we left for her concert.

Emily and her class just before it started.

All five third grade classes.

Emily and her teacher Mrs. Taylor.

Water Angels

2009-04-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

When my parents were here the weather was starting to get hot enough to set up our pool. I'll admit that I miss my inground pool from our old house dearly but last summer I came across this one at Target in July for an out of season sale....hmmm out of season in July in Arizona, could have fooled me :)

Anyway, the kids really wanted to set up the pool with Nana and Papa so one afternoon while the big kids were at school my parents, Tori and I set up the pool. It's about the size of a trampoline, 15 feet across and it gets about four feet deep. Not deep enough for diving but deep enough to mess around in and to cool off in this 'wonderful heat' we have here in Arizona...NOT!

My dad being the ever goofy dad that he is jumped in the pool with Tori as it was filling and they did 'water angels'. Never knew there was such a thing but the two of them had a real hoot with it. Tori and Papa, doing their angels.

Papa style!!
My kids call anyone who walks around without their shirt on Papa Style. (since Papa is the only one they see like this often, haha)
Growing up it was a common occurrence for me to see my dad without his shirt on but Jason isn't Mr. Outdoors and tends to keep his shirt on.
The kids think my dad is hilarious and its funny because when my dad took his shirt off in this photo Tori started yelling, "Oh no, he's going Papa Style!" My dad looked at her and said, "What?!" So I had to explain and my parents just chuckled.

Easter Dinner with the Family!!

2009-04-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

We hosted Easter dinner this year and Jason's parents, my parents and Tyler and Katie came as well. It was fun filling the tables with 12 people. It gave me an excuse to buy some new table cloths and some new centerpieces, haha.

As always Tori is just 'thrilled' to haver her photo taken and was not going to smile for the photos so we said, "Oh well, look like a dip, that's fine with us!!"

The kids and their grandparents!!!

The 'big kids table' :)

Gram, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Emily and Hudson.

The 'kids' table', with Deb, Jason, Katie, Tyler, Tori and Max.

The Easter Bunny Came To Our House :)

2009-04-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to the Thomas house.

He brought all kinds of candy from Canada and the US..hmmm as well as some cool new toys for the kiddos.

Emmy got a cool pink, black and white basketball, Hudson and silver and black soccer ball, Tori a pink t-ball set and Max a cool car.

Coloring easter eggs!!!

The finished product :)

The kids had a blast coloring eggs this year. Papa bought a foil kit to add some pizzaz to the eggs and Deb bought an egg spinner to add some 'tie die' look to the colors of the eggs.

We all had fun and made some nice looking eggs.

Hangin' Out with Nana and Papa!!

2009-04-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Deb's parents came down for a visit and as usual they love to spend time out doors! My back yard always looks wonderful after their visit :)

The kids love it when my parents and I fill the green yard waste bin so they get to climb in and stomp down the branches etc so we can fit more in!!

Hudson gets first shot.

Then Emm.

Last and least (weight that is :)) Tori.

The kids with Nana.

Papa and the boys.

Gotta make sure Max takes a drink from the right 'beverage!'

Sisters Can Be So Mean!

2009-04-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last night the kids were watching movies and Jason went in to check on them and he came back and told me that Tori was sleeping in Hudson's bed and Hudson was in Tori's bed and they were both asleep.

We decided to just leave them there and not risk them waking up.

Apparently they both slept through the night and in the morning Emily comes rushing into our room asking for my camera. I told her where it was and she came back a bit later to show us these photos.

She decided to put her life size Barbie in bed with Hudson who was at that time still sleeping in Tori's pink Littlest Pet Shop sheets :)

Ahh sibling love, gotta love it...

Preschool kiddos :)

2009-04-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

I have the coolest opportunity in the world. I get to teach Tori and her preschool friends once every five weeks for a week.

A group of my friends and I along with their kids teach preschool. There are six kids, four girls and two boys. They are all really great kids and they all get along which makes it nice! The day these photos were taken one of our gals, Brooke wasn't able to be there.

After our lesson and craft we came outside to play in the wonderul weather. The imagination of kids astounds me. They create the weirdest and most imaginative games but in the end they all seem to be having fun.

Max gets a real kick out of being included with the 'big kids'. He thinks he is pretty special.

In this photo strting from top left: Crew, Trenton, Halle, Hannah, Tori

Halle, Max and Trenton

Hannah, Crew, Halle and Tori (from the stairs clockwise)

Zoo Day with Dad :)

2009-03-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

The kids had spring break last week and Jason decided ahead of time to take a few days off to spend some time with the monkeys. We decided to take them to the zoo on that Friday and it turned out to be a wonderful day. It was slightly overcast with a light breeze and around 80. Heavenly!! My perfect day.

Max LOVED these monkeys.
Max and his bud, Dad :)

We were walking along and Emily saw these guinea fowl in the bushes and asked if she could feed them some of the kettle corn we had bought earlier and were snacking on as we walked. These birds were brave, almost taking the popcorn right out of their hands!!

Max and Jase on the stairs up to the giraffe platform. It was his first time up there and he thought he was pretty cool.

As always the highlight of our trips to the zoo are the stingrays.

This time around Max got in on it and actually pet some of them. There were a bunch of baby stingrays in the pool who were very friendly and would come up and just hover in front of the kids, almost begging to be stroked. I still say they feel gross but oh well, the kids and Jason get a real kick out of it!!

The ride home!! Hudson let Max try his shades on and Max thought he was pretty cool :)

St Paddy's Day at the Zoo!!

2009-03-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

I took the monkeys to the Phoenix Zoo for St. Patrick's Day. It was a gorgeous day, just under 90 degrees and a light breeze.

It was pretty busy since it was spring break but we went around lunch time and many people were already leaving for the day so it worked out well for parking :)

The kids wore their St. Patrick's Day shirts and as usual we filled our water bottles with soda when we got there and spent the afternoon walking through the zoo, looking at the animals and chatting up a storm.

Usually the caves and water slides have the water sprinklers going but today they didn't so they were able to wander inside and go on the slides without getting wet. Max had a total blast with this. He kept asking Mimi(Emily) to come with him on the slide.

The best entertainment of the day came when one of the sea otters caught a squirrel and then proceeded to drown it and then eat it. Hudson thought it was awesome, Emily wasn't too sure and Tori thought it was gross. At one point the otter ripped off one of the legs and Hudson said, "Look Mom, its like she is eating a chicken leg!" The zoo employee who was standing talking to me started laughing. I didn't know otters did this but the zoo lady assured me that otters will eat whatever they can get their hands on. Ewww.

Max liked the rattlesnakes, he kept saying, "Look Mommy, nake, nake.....ooh look, whoa, nake go fast, Mommy LOOK" He is at that fun age when he is realizing all the cool stuff around him. But he is also at that age that he expresses his opinions. To say he screamed when we left the 'nakes' would be an understatement. Urgh :(

Max had his first taste of cotton candy. He did not like it at all. Definately not my kid, haha. Jason doesn't like it either so guess that just makes more for the rest of us!!

Max still calls all animals (i guess with the exception of 'nakes' now) puppies. When we were in petting the goats he kept saying, "Aww, nice puppy" Maybe one day he will get it, haha.

All in all it was a great day and the kids can't wait until we go back on Friday with Jason so they can pet the sting rays and ride on the train. I told them that we had to wait for dad to do those things. I just hope that we have good weather!!!

Tori Gets Chopped :)

2009-03-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

Just like her big sister Tori decided that she would donate her hair to Locks of Love.

http://www.locksoflove.org/

She understood that her pony tail would go to kids who had lost their hair for many different reasons and that her hair would help make wigs for them to feel special and like every other kid out there :)

She was excited since she had watched me do Emmy's hair and liked the end result. Even though her hair looks longer than Emm's we actually only took the required ten inches off of hers instead of the twelve inches that we took off of Emily's.

Before...

During...

After!!

Wow, all that gorgeous blonde hair gone :(

It is such a pretty color. I am just hoping that one of my kids will keep Jason's beautiful blonde hair into adulthood. Emm's hair has already changed to a darker color like mine. Hudson on the other hand is opposite. Each year his hair keeps getting lighter and lighter. Weird...

We will mail off their pony tails this week.

I am really proud of my girls and hope that this selfless act that they did will be one of the many that they do throughout their lives.

Emmy's Hair Donation!!

2009-03-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours donated her hair to 'Locks of Love' just the other week and it got me to thinking. My girls needed a hair cut for summer and...

I asked Emily is she would be willing to donate her hair just like Mallory did and she wasn't sure at first so I showed her the website for Locks of Love and the kids who benefit from it and she instantly said, "Yes, I will do it."

I was so proud of her.

The only prerequisites were that the hair must be at least 10 inches long and also in a pony tail or braid. Emm was very brave and was actually happy with her end result.

It will definately be a lot cooler for summer and a lot easier to wash and brush. Her hair is SUPER thick. I figure her hair is so thick it might be enough for two or three wigs for people, haha.

Before we started.

Cutting through...man she has thick hair!!

Wow...

The after look. I actually like it a lot. She really likes it too.

The only problem will be with dance when she needs her hair in a bun for ballet...

Uncle Ty is engaged!!!

2009-03-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Jason's youngest brother Tyler and his girlfriend Katie got engaged this past weekend! The kids were so excited!! What I didn't realize was that I knew Katie and her family just over four years ago when we used to live in Chandler. I used to teach her younger sister in Achievement Days and I remember Emily constantly begging for Katie's sister Shelley to babysit her :) Her mom is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet. What a small world huh?!!

We haven't seen the ring in person yet but i 'borrowed' this photo off Katie's blog site :)

It is a gorgeous ring!! They are both so lucky to have found each other. They seemed like the perfect match when they are together.

I remember back when Jason and I got married and Wendy had told me that Tyler had made a comment to her about Jase and I. To date I have never forgotten it.

He said, "You know Mom, I like Jason better when he is with Deb" I'm sure it didn't mean that Jason was a turkey before but it just meant that together we are better and complement each other and bring out the best in each other.

I can already see that in Katie and Tyler and I only wish them as much happiness and love that Jason and I have had these past...omg almost 12 years!!!

Tori's Trip to the Rockin R Ranch

2009-03-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tori's preschool went on a fieldtrip to the Rockin R Ranch!!

I ended up getting sick the morning we were scheduled to go so my friend Sarah took Tori and took some great pics for me. (Thank you Sarah!!)

Tori said she had a lot of fun and was excited that she got to pan for gold and to rope a cow!!

Tori and Trenton touching a rattlesnake skin!!

With the hot desert area here, rattlesnakes are seen around here quite a bit.

Tori sitting on the saddle stool. She said this was cool and that we needed to get our stools in the kitchen made into these!

I am guessing that Sarah asked Trenton and Tori to make goofy faces in this photo :)

Tori practicing how to rope her cow! She said she wasn't very good at it but her teachers Kathrine and Sarah were really good at it. Way to go Sarah!!!

Dress Up Fun....lol

2009-03-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

Jason is definately going to kill me for this but it was freaking hilarious.

I was on the computer just a bit ago making up my grocery list for the next week and Tori comes running into my room giggling, "Mom, you have to see Max!!"

I turned around and there was Max looking so proud in one of Tori's old Halloween costumes.

I wish he hadn't had licorice on his face, didnt see it when i took the photos but oh well...its all in the memory of the time :)

The look on his face in this one was priceless...

Hmm, maybe he has been watching too much of his sisters dance classes.

A back view...Tori made sure he was wearing the complete emsemble. She was ticked that she couldnt find her Tinkerbell dress up shoes. I am glad that she couldn't find those as well as the crown and wand, haha. Hmm...wonder if his future wife would love to see these in twenty years or so!!!!!

Tori dressed in one of Emmy's old Halloween costumes from when Emm was in kindergarten. I can't believe how long her hair is getting and how grown up she is looking. She isn't my little baby girl anymore :(

Max, Cooper and the Rice Krispies...

2009-03-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

The other night Jason was making dinner and he came upstairs to me and said, "You have to see this. Oh and bring your camera!!"

I came downstairs followed by the other three turkeys and we watched Max and Cooper. Even though I was kind of grossed out I was happy that the floor was recently washed, haha.

So much for my Rice Krispies!!

I initially just downloaded the second video but it wasn't as informative as the first...nothing like eating off the floor with your mouth...eww :(

Max and Cooper are partners in crime and its rather obvious in this post :)

Part One

Part Two (sorry i can't get this one centered...grrr)

Gram's Birthday!!

2009-03-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

We had a birthday party for Gram and the first bbq of the summer at Jason's parents house on Sunday.

It was a great time and we had the chance to meet Tyler's new girlfriend Katie. We all really liked her :) The kids thought she was pretty cool. We gave Gram the season five dvd of her favorite tv series Reba. For Christmas all the kids got her the first four seasons so we decided to add to it and get her the last season!!

We forgot to bring candles along with the cake so Jase found this huge candle in a drawer and we used it instead :) I am hoping that one day i will get a nice photo of my husband where he isn't making a goofy face, urgh!

The two birthday girls blowing out the candle. Max wanted to help as well.

Max and Murphy.
Murphy was helping Max clean the chocolate from his fingers!!!

Emily, Uncle Ty and Katie and her presents.

Emily got this really cool jewelery kit from Gram and Grandpa and a paint by number kit from Katie and Tyler.

It was a fantastic day and a perfect day for a bbq. Before long we will be swimming in the pool.

Emmy's 9th Birthday!

2009-03-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

This year for Emily's birthday she opted to have her best friend Sarah over for a sleep over! Worked for us, less hassle of a huge party. Jason and I took the girls and our other kiddos out for dinner to In N Out Burger and we ate outside in the fantastic weather.

Then we all came back to our house and had birthday cake and presents.

Emmy picked a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard Ice Cream cake...it was delicious!!

The girls and I then went out to see the 3D version of Coraline. It was cute and it had been ages since I had last seen a 3D movie, actually i think it was at Expo 86 in Vancouver a long long time ago....lol.

Emmy and her cake! Nine candles, wow! My baby is growing up :)

Emmy and her presents!
Sarah got her a really cool Barbie, Nana and Papa gaver her some ear rings, a Hannah Montana nightie and a money order to take shopping. From Jase and I and the kids she got a new cd player so she can listen to and practice her musical theater numbers. We thought of getting her an Ipod shuffle but seeing how small it was, it was guaranteed to get lost! So, we went with the cd player which is really girly with flowers and jewels, really cute! She also got new ear phones, purple of course and a new game for her DS.

The girlies in their 3D glasses when we got home from the movie!

Deb and the girls being goofy!!

Emmy said she had a great day. The girls watched movies and played Barbies and did each others nails when we got home. The girls had really missed each other since Sarah moved to a new school last summer. Hopefully they will move back into the area like her parents are talking about :)

Preschool Monkeys At The Zoo!

2009-02-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

Tori's preschool decided to take a trip to the Phoenix zoo!

Tori was so excited about it. We have a membership at the zoo but it has been a while since we were there last.

She was excited to spend time with her preschool buddies.

It was a beautiful day and the zoo wasn't too busy. The day seemed to fly by and before long it was time to head home through the start of rush hour traffic to make sure we were home when the big kids got home from school.

Max and the new jaguar that just arrived at the zoo.

Tori on her frog. She LOVES having her photo taken on this cement frog. She got a new cheetah teddy bear that she carried around with her all day :)

The preschool crew along with some siblings...
Tori, Trenton, Crew, Hannah, Brooke's big sister Cassie, Halle's little sister Merilee, a stranger who wanted to be in the photo...haha, Halle and Brooke.

Tori outside the treehouse!

The kids with the sting rays. Tori thinks its cool to pet them. Max pet one and about flipped out!! I pet my first one showing Max how to do it...they feel kinda weird, almost velvety and slippery.

The kids in front of the carousel waiting for their turn to ride on the endangered animals!!

Trenton on his lion!!

Max and Tori on their cheetah and panther!!

Max's 2nd Birthday :)

2009-02-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

Max's second birthday party was a lot of fun. Jason's parents came over for dinner and since Max wasn't really old enough to choose his meal of choice we made it for him!!

We had taco salad and man was it good :)

Jason's brother Shaun was in town and was able to come as well. It was so great to see him and the kids had a total blast spending time with their Uncle Shaun.

Emily and Hudson trying to light the cake!

Max was having a hard time blowing out the candles so Mom helped him. I was being dramatic in showing him how to blow the candles out and
Jason just managed to get this 'wonderful' shot, urgh!! haha

Max opening his presents. This one was from Nana and Papa.
Max is really into puppies and cars and ever since his birthday he sleeps with his puppy blanket and pillow.
For his other presents he received a cool letter magnet and desk set from Gram and Grandpa, a Cars play mat for his cars and trucks from his brother and sisters, a car carrying case and a cool huge semi truck with a car that shoots out of it from Mom and Dad.
He also received some cool cards from the rest of the family!!

Uncle Shaun on Hudson's scooter!! He and Hudson were zooming around the kitchen and family room chasing each other with Cooper running behind them barking the whole time!! The kids think Uncle Shaun is really 'cool' :)

Max and Grandpa! Max has a thing for Grandpa's new truck. He always loves to sit in the drivers seat!! He definately is Grandpa's little buddy. Who knows, maybe Max will turn out to be a car lover just like his Grandpa!!!

The Cardinals were soooo close...

2009-02-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

Since being married Jason and I have never been much into watching sports which for me seems rather odd. All my life I have either played or watched sports of some sort or another for as long as I can remember.
Yesterday this all changed however. My darling husband spent the entire Superbowl on the couch watching the Arizona Cardinals almost win!!
Our kids came in and out from outside to watch from time to time and after the game Emily said that she thinks we should watch more sports in our house!! haha
The game yesterday was soooo close and we were cheering for the underdogs, our hometeam the Cardinals. It would have been so nice to see them win and we almost thought that they had until the last few minutes of play :(
We hope that next season we will see them there again but who knows...the Diamondbacks won the world series but we haven't seen them there again since. Sports are an odd thing, all depending on luck, skills and who is on, on the day that it counts!!
Go Cardinals, hope to see you back in the Superbowl next year!!

Healing up!!

2009-01-20T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well they say that facial injuries tend to heal fairly quickly and it seems this one is doing just that. We took this photo yesterday, a day after the accident and its already starting to heal. His lip is full of holes and will heal but its the gums I am worrying about. I hope that they heal fairly smoothly. He still keeps smiling and saying 'cheese' every time we take a photo of him which makes me think he has my high pain tolerance, which is a great thing -- but it could just be his is a total goofball just like his brother and sisters!!!

Max's ouchies :(

2009-01-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

Last night as I was making dinner Max and Emily were in the family room watching tv when all of a sudden I heard a 'thump' and then Emily cry out, "Max fell off the recliner!!"

Max started crying and I went over and made sure he was okay before picking him up and found no head/neck issues that I could see. I glanced at his mouth and saw blood and figured, urgh another split lip. We had several of those over the years and then carried him to the kitchen realizing that as i went my hand that was under his chin was filling up with blood.

Jase was in the shower when it happened and he heard the commotion and came down stairs to see me with my hands covered in blood and then asked, "What happened?" I got him to pass me a wet cloth and we wiped the blood away and sat Max on Jase's lap as I peeked in his mouth. I saw that his lip was badly split and his front tooth was chipped. What concerned us was the fact that the blood just kept coming and coming. So we gave him a freezie (Otter pop to you US folks!!) which seemed to slow the blood flow down. He ate dinner with no complaints and seemed like he was back to his old self.

At bedtime I wanted to take a peek at how it was looking so I peeked and noticed that when i lifted his lip his mouth started filling with blood...(this was when I took that photo) We realized that not only had he split his lip and chipped a tooth but he also torn his phrenulum, sliced his gum from his front tooth to two teeth down and also stripped the gum of his front tooth up about 1/4".

Being a little in shock I called my mom, who is a nurse and e-mailed her the picture and she said I should call my dentist just to see what he says. So I did and also sent him the picture and he said he thought Max would be okay for the night and that he wanted to see him today.

So, off we went this morning to see Dr. Clark who said it is actually looking better but confirmed that he torn his phrenulum (which in a way is good because it will help reduce the massive gap tooth smile he has :)) and he said that we need to keep an eye on Max's gums to make sure they heal but being as he is so young it should heal fairly smoothly but if not, its up top so shouldn't be too noticeable. The kids have dental check ups in two weeks so he will check Max out then if we don't see any problems in the mean time.

Oh the horrors our kids put us through as parents. Today he still has a massive fat lip and when he woke up this morning Jason said he looked like the Joker with blood smeared all over his face!! Max was a little upset that he got blood on his Thomas the Train pillow case but I told him I would wash it for him and make Thomas all better and he seemed happy with that.

Victoria's 5th Birthday Party!!

2009-01-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Victoria finally had a chance to have her 5th birthday party with her friends. She was so so so excited. They girls made crowns and the boys made visors with their names on them and they also made cool bracelets.

They then did some karaoke which was a little hard since most of them can't read yet!!

But they still had fun :)

Tori's birthday cake was a surprise for her. I made it for her since she loves barbies and princesses so much.

Here are all the crazy kids having cake!! Nice face Victoria Madeline!!!

After the cake the kids all had a chance to beat on the pinata. After the pinata they jumped in the trampoline that Jase and I filled with over 200 balloons the night before. Judging by all the laughing and screams and popping of balloons they had a blast. It was a nice warm day, close to 80 without any rain or much wind!! Perfect for a party outside :)

Tori's Preschool Takes A Tour Of Grandpa's Hospital

2009-01-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

A group of friends and I team teach preschool together for our kiddos and each month one of us is responsible for a field trip. This month was mine, so I figured hey...I have some connections, why not see if Harv (the kids Grandpa/Jase's dad) can arrange a tour of his hospital for the kids. Sure enough Grandpa came through with flying colors and the kids were treated to an amazing tour of Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital which Harv and several doctors created and built several years ago.

The kids got to see every part of the hospital!! The patient rooms, the kitchen (where they got a chocolate chip cookie from the chef!!), the x-ray machines, the boiler rooms, the bathrooms(of course) and the best of all was the operating room!! The kids all had to wear masks, hats and booties since it was rsv season. Usually kids aren't allowed in the hospital during rsv season but since we had an 'in' we were able to take the tour as long as the kids kept their masks on!

The kids getting some candy out of the drug machine from one of the pharmacists. They thought that was pretty cool :)

Learning about the hospital from Heather who was our tour guide. Each of the kids received a name tag with their picture on it just like everyone else at the hospital wears!!!!

Heather helping Tori hear her own heartbeat.

Max in one of Grandpa's O.R's.
The kids all received a patient bag full of candy, a water bottle, hat, wet wipes, sanitizer and so much more to take with them when they went. I'll bet the kids will be talking about that tour for a long time to come. I know my kids sure are. If I had been thinking I would have pulled Emm and Hudson out of school so they could come on the tour as well but I was a responsible mom!!!

Lion King!

2009-01-09T10:08:00.001-08:00

For Deb's birthday her in-laws Harvey and Wendy gave her two tickets for the Lion King!!

Harv and Wendy are season ticket holders for the Gammage Auditorium in Phoenix and long ago Wendy had asked Deb if she would like to see it and of course she said, "YES!" But as time went by Deb totally forgot all about the conversation and so when her birthday came and Wendy gave her those tickets she was totally blown away.

Of course Deb would take Emily since she is so into dance and musicals and I think she was just as excited as Deb was for it.

They got ready for their night and Jason came home early from work and off they went to the Gammage. Emily had never been there before so she was in awe at the size of the auditorium and the cool look of the large round building.

They had great seats and of course had to purchase tokens to bring home with them. Emily bought a Zazu and Deb picked up some smaller stuffed toys for the other kids who had stayed home with Jason.

Once seated in the theater Emm kept asking when it would start and once it did she was silent the whole time except for the odd time when she would lean over and comment on how cool it was or the fact that a certain song wasn't in the Lion King movie :)

It was an incredible performance and has made Jason and Deb discuss the possibility of becoming season ticket holders themselves or at least for the time being to keep an eye on what is at the Gammage and to pick up some tickets for shows that all of the kids might like.

Overall, a wonderful night and as for a first musical for both Emm and Deb, the memories will stay with them forever!

Tori and Deb's Birthday Dinner

2009-01-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

I feel bad for Tori, she always has to share her birthday dinner with me. Poor kid! But...she does get to have her own party next weekend so I guess it all works out. Being born two days before her mom stinks for her but for me it got me out of the hospital after one day after I had her. I told the nurses I didn't want to spend my birthday in the hospital and they let me out early!!! The power of a laboring woman is amazing!!!

We had a nice dinner, lasagne as always (my fav!!) made by my darling hubby and Jase's parents came over and enjoyed the night with us.

The food was yummy and the company was great. What more could a gal ask for!!

Jase got me a really cool light for me to use when I use my laptop in the chair in our bedroom. It is pink and purple and silver...sounds horrid but its really cute and looks pretty trendy!! My parents got me some really amazing ear rings which I can't wait to wear!

Tori got a Pucci Puppy bag from her brothers and sister and a Tinkerbell globe from Jase and I. From her Nana and Papa(Deb's parents) she got a Christmas Barbie. Tori LOVES barbies. Jason's parents got her this really cool piggy bank from Discovery Kids. Tori was already looking around the house for change...

Blowing out the candles on the cake with Tori(Hudson stood close to make sure she didn't spit on the cake when she blew out the candles...LOL ~ just an fyi, she didn't!!)

The kids bought me flowers so I had to take a pic with them and their present!! Even Cooper got in on the action.

Tori and Deb, the birthday girlies!

Jason's parents got me the best gift ever! They gave us their tickets to see the Lion King this Thursday night!!!! I have never been to a live musical before so I am so excited. They gave us two tickets and since Emm is such a music lover Wendy thought it would be neat for she and I to go together. The seats are awesome and I am sure we will have a great time!!

Christmas Day with Family

2008-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic day at Jason's parents' house with his family. All of his brothers were home for the holidays and we all had a blast catching up and of course the brothers were well into flipping each other crap like old times!!

The boys!! Tyler, Chris, Jason and Shaun

Jase and Max getting ready for dinner.

The cousins. Hudson, Max, Emmy, Matthew and Tori.

Getting the kids settled before we eat!!

Everyone at Gram's massive table! It was an amazing meal :)

Presents at Gram and Grandpa's

2008-12-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

After we opened up our presents here at our house we got cleaned up and went over to Gram and Grandpa's to exchange gifts and have some delicious dinner!

Jason got Max ready and tucked his pants into his socks and it looked so goofy that we had to take a picture!

Tori opening her present from Gram and Grandpa in her holiday dress.

Hudson and Max opening their presents. Max was having some difficulties and thought to bite it open!!

Grandpa came over to give him a hand!!

The kids in front of Gram and Grandpa's tree :)

Christmas Morning!!

2008-12-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

This Christmas morning was wonderful!! I got to sleep in until 8am. It was heavenly. The kids were so worn out from the days before that they were exhausted. Anyway, Christmas morning brought some happy kids.

The loot!!

Max and his bike from Santa!

Max, Emily and her Nintendo ds, Tori and her pink scooter and Hudson and his red scooter

Max and his bear rug from his brother and sisters!!

Getting Ready for Santa

2008-12-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve after we go to the temple we go to Sonic for some ice cream and then home so they can open their holiday pj's. Then they get the cookies and drink for Santa and now that they are older they write a letter to Santa. Tori made some Reindeer food at preschool so she went out onto the back patio to sprinkle it for them. Jason calls it "dookie twinkle food"...don't ask, haha.

Tori and her reindeer food!

Their Christmas pj's!!

Daddy and Max :)

Emily and Hudson composing the letter to Santa.

Christmas Eve Tradition

2008-12-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

For the past five years or so we had started a tradition with Jason's parents to meet on Christmas Eve to go and see the Mesa LDS Temple all lit up for the holidays. This year it was wonderful. The lights were beautiful and we went early enough that it wasn't too insanely busy. It was even better because Chris and Steph and their family were there to spend it with us along with Jason's Nanna from Calgary.

The kids had a real kick looking at the lights with their cousin Matthew. They had been looking forward to his visit for a long time!

Emily, Gram and Nanna

Matthew, Hudson, Nanna and Emily

Steph and Baby Allison

Emily ~ Miss No I Won't Smile Nicely so I'll just be a dork!! lol

Nanna, Gram, Tori, Emmy, Jase and Max

Christmas Dance Recital

2008-12-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Today the girls had their Christmas dance recital. I wasn't able to take any photos of Emily in her costumes since she had them back to back and was changing in the dressing rooms and we were out in the audience. For the Christmas recital the costumes are provided by the dance studio so the girls put them on at the recital and then change back into their leotards or street clothes when they are done.

Tori on the other hand needed help getting ready since she was so nervous so I was able to get a quick picture of her in her costume. No she isn't smiling but the costume was pretty cute. Tori's dance number was to I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus in her tap shoes.

Emily had three dance numbers. Her first was a ballet number in which she wore a Christmas nightgown and danced to When Christmas Comes To Town from the Polar Express Movie. Her second number for her musical theater group was called Toy Sack by the B52's and she wore an elf costume. It was really cute. Her third number was for her tap/jazz class and she danced to Hot Chocolate also from the Polar Express Movie. She was dressed in a striped candy cane type body suit and wore a white apron and scarf above her bun and carried a bright red serving tray.

They both did very well and Jason's parents came with me to watch them. Jason stayed at home with the boys. We taped it for them (even though photography and video recorders were prohibited...)so they could see it when we got home and I made a dvd of all of their dance numbers. It was a great day to get us further into the holiday spirit. I can hardly believe that in less than a week Christmas will be here!!!

Deb Needs....

2008-12-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

My friend Sarah found my blog site and so in turn i popped in on hers and read her latest post. It sounded like fun so i tried it...You are supposed to go to Google and then type in your name and then add needs after it to see what you need for the holidays. (make sure to put your name and needs in quotes ~ makes results a little easier to decipher - ie. "Deb needs" )I did it and got a good laugh about my results :)

Deb needs to work to be free.

Hmm, you mean what I do every day with four kids isn't considered work? And if I worked outside the home I could be free? Wow...let me consider this one, hehe.

Deb needs a desk.

Hmm, nope, I really, really like my desk that I have.

Deb needs healing.

Well my body is feeling kind of old and any healing to take away those early morning aches and pains would be welcomed :)

Deb needs help-got in trouble.

Well...I sure hope not. At the moment the only trouble I have is trying to remember if I did all I was supposed to do today and if i did forget something I hope it won't be too serious, lol.

Deb needs our prayers.

Well I am always up for help from any source. No I haven't been good about attending church this year and yes I will fix that in the new year. I promise!!

Deb needs a professional evaluation.

This might be a tad scary haha. I know I have many faults but to have someone who is certified to tell me what they are? Nah...i'll pass thanks :)

Deb needs a revelation when a grisly axe murderer kills a man and demolishes his computer.

Umm...ooookay.

and last but not least...

Deb needs a gun.

Hmm, well if you say so. We are in the USA, lol. I'll admit I have thought from time to time about wishing I had one while I followed one of those out of state cars on the freeway going 1/3 of the posted speed limit. I'm sure my kids have picked up a few choice phrases from me which i certainly hope they forget...nope not gunna happen, lol.

Well that was fun and educational at times hehe and I only listed the first few. Give it a shot and see what you need for the holidays.

Honor Choir!

2008-12-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

At the start of the school year Emily's music teacher asked her if she wanted to be in the honor choir at school. She came home very excited and we were very proud of her for getting asked. Of course we said, go for it! I don't call the melodious harmonies(yeah right!!) that come out of my mouth as singing, so she couldn't have gotten this from me. Jason on the other hand does have a very nice voice but doesn't sing that often.

What really makes us proud is that she is deaf in her right ear and yet still has a beautiful voice. We found that out when she had her kindergarten screening tests. It completely blew us out of the water and apparently it was herditary and she has had it since birth. She is the only one of our kids born in Canada and up there they don't check the hearing like they do down here in the US. Anyway...she hasn't known any different and you wouldn't know it to talk to her and it's pretty amazing listening to her sing.

The honor choir practices early in the morning on Tuesdays before school, much to Jason's joy, lol. (he is the one who takes the kids to school in the morning~luckily we only live five mins from the school)

The honor choir had their first concert of the year for the parents/families this past week and they sang Christmas songs and some others which were some of their favorites.

They ordered the kids choir golf shirts and they came in the day before the concert and as you can tell from the photo Emily's was a tad too big :) (Better too big than small in my opinion.)

Long and short, it was a beautiful concert and she did a wonderful job!!

Smores!!!

2008-12-15T23:28:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Jason suggested that we make some smores with the kids. I got our smores maker out of the garage that we had gotten as a Christmas gift from the Corbett's many years ago when we were watching JD when he was a baby. Our kids have never made smores before so we thought it might be a fun activity and surprise.

To say they had a blast would be an understatement. Actually we all had a lot of fun. Jase and I included! Hudson and Tori jumped in from the get go and started roasting their marshmellows but Emily was nervous about what would happen if your marshmellow caught on fire. I explained to her that the BEST marshmellows are the ones that get pretty toasted :) I showed her by putting my marshmellow in the flame and letting it catch on fire and then doing the only thing a mom can think of...peeling the outer layer off and then eating it....yummm!! Then putting it back in the fire to roast the next level. Brings back memories from my childhood, haha.
That was all it took and she joined in on the fun.

Max loved that he got all gooey and sticky! He wasn't allowed to roast his own but he sure loved it whenever anyone else would make one for him.

Tori ended up getting some pink marshmellow in her hair at one point but that didn't slow her down in the slightest.

Hudson thought marshmellows on fire looked cool so he was constantly lighting his on fire just to watch it burn...should we be worried? hmmm
We picked up white and pink marshmellows and in the end the white ones got the most votes. Pink were good but not as good as the plain white ones apparently.
It was a fun time and since then they have been asking if we can make them again.

It was raining tonight so we weren't able to go out for our nightly walk to look at Christmas lights after dinner, so we made smores instead. Nothing like loading the kids up on sugar right before bath and bed. urgh.

Anyway, they seem to be a huge hit in our house. Just wish that American chocolate didn't taste so crappy. I would kill for some decent Canadian chocolate:)

Upgrading :)

2008-12-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

I loved my car. It was my first new car I have ever owned. It had all the bells and whistles I could have asked for and more but my family had slowly started to outgrow it :( It did seat seven but the rear seats were stadium seating which meant that they had less leg room than the ones in the middle seats. As my kids got taller they started to whine about who sat in the back. Plus whenever my parents visited we had to take two cars. So....we started looking around for something larger to fit the bill for us and we ended up finding it. We test drove many different cars and I really liked the Ford Expedition but the one I really wanted, The Eddie Bauer model was just too expensive brand new. I couldn't justify going in debt again when my current car was paid off and I learned my lesson the last time about buying a car brand new...depreciation the moment you drive it off the lot :(

We ended up finding an Eddie Bauer at another dealership that was a 2008 with not many miles on it, the price was right and they would give us a great trade in on mine, so we took it.

I am so happy to have all the extra room and I am glad that I didn't settle for the other models that didn't have all the things I wanted. Leather is a MUST when you have kids! I was a little leary about having a black SUV in Arizona for our summers but I did okay with a dark blue one for three years so I figured it will work out okay.

I'll have to admit that I really like being higher up and surrounded by airbags, especially when I'm surrounded by snowbirds who don't have a clue where they are let alone where they are driving or that they are driving at all!! haha ~ urgh

Out with the old...

In with the new :)

A Visit With Santa!!

2008-12-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

The kids have been asking for a few weeks about when they could go and see Santa. Jase and I finally decided that gift ideas should be 'locked in' so Santa wasn't running around at the last minute tracking down gifts . So on Saturday morning we got up and got the kids ready and off we went to the mall so that they could sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they wanted.

Max wasn't too sure of who this odd looking Grandpa dude was in the red suit but he was a sport and sat on his knee anyway, haha. Max likes everyone! We were in Costco on Monday and he pointed to this old guy with a whiteish beard and said "Santa". I couldn't help chuckling. At least he got something out of his visit!! Arizona is filled to maximum capacity with snow birds(old folks who come to the warmth for the winter months) and it makes shopping trips and driving anywhere take a little longer than usual.

Anyway, the gift requests were as follows:

Emily ~ Nintendo ds

Hudson ~ red scooter

Tori ~ pink Barbie scooter

Max ~ tricycle

Jase and I laugh over the monetary variations in the gift requests but at the present time they are too young to grasp that concept yet and we will revel in that fact for now. Later when they are older i'm sure they will compare gifts down to the last penny ( i hope not but i know i did, haha) Hudson originally wanted an Indiana Jones whip and we said, no to that idea. I could just imagine my lamps, the dog, his siblings and the tv being mistakenly(ya right when it comes to his sisters, especially Tori) hit by his whip. We told him maybe for his birthday, with us hoping that he will forget by then!! Hey! It's a while until August 30th :)

We had fun and then when we got home Jase put the lights on the house and I put up the lights on the palm trees and bushes and wreaths on the garage and the front door and then garland around the front door as well. We think the house looks pretty good. I'll have to take a pic tonight once it gets darker before our nightly walk.

I LOVE the holidays!!!!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day at our house this year. Jason's parents and his youngest brother Tyler came and had dinner with us. Everyone ate too much food but Thanksgiving only comes once a year so its worth it!!

Before they arrived we figured we'd take some photos of the kids dressed up in their holiday clothes...and also before they spilled food and who knows what else on themselves!!

We decided to do some in color and others in black and white for a different look. We were pretty happy with how they came out.

Emmy, Tori and Deb

Hudson, Jase and Max

Emily, Jase and Tori

Emily, Tori and Hudson just hangin' out.

Hudson, Emmy, Deb, Max and Tori. Man its really hard to take photos with four kids. Trying to get everyone to look at the same time. It almost makes them more realistic when you get the goofy looks and frustrated faces and wandering eyes. It seems the kids hate photos as much as I do :)

The monkeys!

Hudson trying not to laugh.

Tori being cheesy.

Tori and Emm. I really love this photo which shows that they can be loving to each other when they want to!!!

Bike Riding 101

2008-11-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

The kids have been asking...or shall we say begging for a chance to take their bikes out again after we bought them ummm....yeah about a year ago. Okay so we suck as parents sometimes but time just got away from us and I wasn't able to take them out myself and watch Max so we just kept putting it off and putting it off.

Well...we decided that we would take them out on Sunday to a local park and let them ride and crash a lot. The park was packed so we went to a parking lot a short ways away and let them have at it. They did amazingly well :) Emily caught on before Hudson which surprised both Jase and I since he is usually more athletic than Emm but I guess her dance is paying off. She was off riding around on her own a while before he got the hang of it and i'm sure it was ticking him off that she was doing it and he wasn't. Tori meanwhile was speeding past both of them on her bike with training wheels on, jumping off curbs and being her usual wild child self. All in all it was a great afternoon and it finished with everyone feeling pretty happy with themselves about their bike riding skills.

Yes yes yes, we know...Emily is almost 9 and is now just learning how to ride a bike. Our street just isn't set up for riding bikes like mine or Jason's were when we were kids and there is no way I will let them ride over to their friends like I used to do when I was younger. The world unfortunately just isn't the same as it was back then...man i'm dating myself aren't I? haha

One nice thing about living in Arizona is that its almost December and we are out in t-shirts, shorts and flip flops! Gotta love it :)

Hudson and Max...Max wanted to wear Tori's old helmet. Yep those are princesses on that helmet, it made Jase cringe a little when he put it on!! haha

Emily and Tori riding off into the sunset...well i guess it isn't into the sunset, maybe away from it??

Tori and Deb and her "hot mamma bike"

Jase giving Hudson some pointers.

Finally!!! They got it :)

Seaworld :)

2008-11-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

On our final day in San Diego we went to Seaworld. We saw all of the shows and the kids thought the animals were pretty cool. Emily was dying to go on the Atlantis ride (the log ride, water fall ride) so we took the kids on it and it was extremely tough to get them to want to do anything else after going on it a few times. Once again there weren't any line ups at all and we were able to go on back to back rides. We even convinced Jason to go on it. He refuses to go on rollercoasters but he sucked it up and went on this one. On the back part of the ride, after you come down the big waterfall, you go up inside the ride and it becomes a regular rollercoaster. As we came out of the elevator part at the top I heard Jason mutter behind me when he saw the roller coaster, "Oh sh*t". hahaha. I couldn't help not laughing. It couldn't have been that bad, he went on it one more time after that! We were all pretty wet when we left that ride and were lucky that it wasn't too cold and we were able to dry off fairly quickly. My dad got pretty wet on one of the rides right at the end of the day and was shivering through the Shamu show. I'm sure on the ride home he had the heater on and the seat heaters on as well :)