Top o' the morning to ya!!

Holidays around our house have gotten even better this year now that Ellie is in kindergarten--especially the random, one off holiday's that we normally don't celebrate.

On the Monday before St. Patrick's Day, 2 little leprechauns messed up Ellie's kindergarten classroom and left little green footprints everywhere. So, starting that day, Ellie's teacher, Mrs. H, had the kids write in a daily journal to the leprechauns asking them questions and every night those little guys would sneak into the class and write answers and leave pictures in the journals. In one of those journal entries, Ellie decided to invite the leprechauns over to our house for a party...and what leprechaun can resist a good party invite?? So, on the eve of St. Patty's day, those naughty little leprechauns came over to our house for a big ol' party and they made a HUGE mess (funny how it looked like our unfolded laundry pile, but Ellie insisted it was from the leprechauns partying and who was I to get out of blaming my mess on someone else??). They decorated the girls room and hallway with shamrocks, and left a trail of gold coins leading down the stairs and lead the girls to the toy chest where they left a "pot" (which they had borrowed our cooking pot) of "gold" at the end of the "rainbow" (a finger painting they had made for us). It was a fun day for all of us!

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Those naughty leprechauns must have spilt the paint they used to make their rainbow art because they left little footprints on the floor and fridge before they turned our milk...

GREEN!!!

That night I made my first corned beef and cabbage

It was a huge hit!!

Can't wait to see what those naughty little leprechaun's do next year!!

How to survive your 1st Jog-a-thon...

1--Choose a great running partner

2--Warm up with some jumping jacks

3--Give and get a good luck hug

4-- Be sure to stay ahead of the pack

5--Smile and have lots of fun!

An apology letter.....

Dear Wendy's,

Hi. Remember me? the woman who came through the drive thru last week and got you all confused and flustered? First I wanted fries, then I didn't, and you just couldn't fathom our order? And then as I drove down the freeway with 3 overly tired and starving kids, I opened my bags to distribute your very healthy meals only to realize that you still gave us the small fries, but jipped us a double stack? And then I CURSED your name all the way home because the missing DS was for my very picky 6 year old who refuses to eat hamburgers with anything but just plain meat and bun and so I had to give up my tasty chicken sandwich because of your inadequacy to get our order correct? Now you remember me?? Yeah. Well.... I just wanted to say how truly and deeply sorry I am. I was wrong, you were right. And now I feel bad. The missing burger was found today. Petrified and wedged between my front seat and console, but you indeed did give us all 3 of our sandwiches. I just wanted to let you know that I am sorry and I hope that you will still allow us to continue to spend money at your fine establishment and that you will continue to provide our kids with alternatives to healthy meals. ~Alicia

PS Thanks for the free fries!!

I can not tell a lie...

school was out for the week of President's Day and we took total and complete advantage of our beautiful San Diego weather and played ALL. WEEK. LONG!!

Since Mark's work schedule was IN-SANE all week, he couldn't take any time off to be with us, so I knew I had to plan something fun everyday or my kids would go berserk!

So, our schedule looked a little something like this...

Monday~Pool

Tuesday~Beach

Wednesday~Park-- (Sea World got cancelled)

Thursday~Kidsville

Friday~San Diego Zoo

We forgot our camera the whole week until Friday, so we took enough pictures to make up for the missing ones.

Since we don't have passes to the zoo anymore, my good friend had invited us to go with her and her boys and offered us free tickets. Well unfortunately, they ended up not being able to make it after all, but she still gave us the tickets to go anyway. We met up with my friend Amy and her kids. The kids had such a blast together. In fact, they had such a blast, that we were some of the last ones to leave the zoo--an hour after closing!

It is so much fun to see Ellie and Jayme hit it off so well every time we get together. In fact, they were inseparable at the zoo--we couldn't keep up with them! The neat thing is, is that Amy and I were BFF's when we were 10 years old living in Winchester VA!! What are the odds that we would end up living down the street from each other 20 years later?!?!

Maddy had a fun time hamming it up for the camera

And yes...Will really is always this good ;)

These next 2 pics are hilarious. Look at the first--all 5 kids together...nothing too crazy going on...

Then take a look at the 2nd picture...look closely at Jayme's face...then look at David's hand....

PRICELESS!!

The end of a great week!!

After a crazy fun packed week like this, you can imagine how my next week was--catching up on laundry, dishes, errands, phone calls, house work etc....Oh well! It was all worth it. And Mark wants to know if this is a preview of how summer is going to be....I told him maybe, but we'll also be going to Sea World too!

Happy heart day!

Valentine's was so much fun this year! The girls were really into decking out our house with red, pink and hearts EVERYWHERE and getting ready for their parties at school. They were so excited to pick out cards for their teachers and friends. They also enjoyed the little gifts that "Cupid" left in their heart tins at the end of his trail of heart confetti!

Ellie's school had lots of festivities going on the Friday before--a family lunch date, a class party , followed by a daddy/daughter Valentine's dance later that night.

Ellie's kindergarten class--the kids looked so cute--they had made themselves into little Valentines to give to the parents at the end of the day!

Maddy and her friend Amy also got to join in on the fun celebrations!

Getting ready for the daddy/daughter dance. Mark said that Ellie had so much fun--even though she wouldn't let him talk to anyone else--it was, after all, "only a daddy/daughter dance!"

Mark and I were able to sneak away from the kids--(ALL 3 this time!!!!) and go see a movie and get some dinner. It was so nice to just be alone again and enjoy time spent with each other. Happy Valentine's Day!

We have a SIX year old in the house!!

It is so hard for me to believe that it was 6 years ago today that this sweet little baby girl joined our family. Time has really slipped through our fingers way too quickly!

Happy 6th birthday Ellie!

Ellie--one day old--Newport Beach, CA

Ellie--6 years old--OC, CA

The birthday girl says..."Let the festivities begin...."

Brownies and singing with her kindergarten class

**The day before her actual birthday, we took her out of school and she and daddy got to roam Disneyland--just the 2 of them! No diaper changing breaks, no melt downs, no napping schedules to stick to, no Dumbo rides--just Disneyland--pure Ellie style. She was in total bliss according to Mark (and didn't even mind the rain a bit!)

**Ellie was definitely spoiled rotten on her birthday! Even though there was no surprise kitten like we had tried to arrange, she got more Zhu zhu pets than she knew what to do with! She also had a stack of presents taller than her to open first thing in the morning, a princess crown she wore all week, a birthday banner made especially for her, a delicious breakfast, an outing to the movies--"Alvin and the Chipmunk's 2", a shopping spree, pizza for dinner (we tried to get her to eat Cafe Rio a 2nd time...), tons of phone calls, and she got to stay up really late to play with her new presents!

~It has been such an adventure and joy to be Ellie's mom. To watch her learn and to grow over the years has been such a pleasure and blessing. I have loved watching her little imagination develop--she is so amazingly creative and talented--always coming up with some kind of "craft" or activity for everyone to participate in. She loves to sing and dance and perform and is often caught singing in the bathroom or making up her own songs. She is so caring and thoughtful, not only towards her friends and parents, but especially to her 2 younger siblings--you couldn't ask for a better oldest child. She is very laid back and has a very "go-with-the-flow" personality which makes it fun to take her shopping or to places most kids her age couldn't handle. She is fairly responsible and seems mature for her age in a lot of areas. She is super smart and has an astounding (almost eerie at times!) memory. She has an amazing personality and is able to make friends with just about everyone she comes in contact with. Her sense of humor is similar to her dad's--very funny! She is such a delight and such a fun spirited gal whom I love so dearly! We hope she had a wonderful and very memorable birthday!

Beach day--in January??

Monday is usually my cleaning/laundry/catch-up-from-the-weekend day, but since this past Monday was gorgeous, we decided that a little impromptu beach trip was in order. We had a blast--and no matter how cold the water is, there is NO WAY of keeping my kids from getting in and splashing around in it. (And Will discovered that he really likes eating sand--YUCK!!)

There was a lot of dancing along the beach,

wave jumping, rock throwing--(to keep the birds from stealing our snacks),

and sand (and rock) eating to be had!

What better way to spend an afternoon in January?

(Sure beats laundry!!)

Our Christmas Card 2009... Unveiled!!

Now that our Christmas cards have been sent out, I can unveil our most recent family pictures. (And to those of you that didn't get a card, you probably need to send me a new address for next year!) My good friend was wonderful enough to take these for us--I really like them. Next, I plan to blow them up on canvas and hang them in our family room.

Believe it or not, this was taken in Julian--just about 40 minutes from our house here in San Diego!

Our 3 darling kids

Sweet Sisters

I thought this one was darling of Maddy and Will. I love Will's "what's up" expression!

2009 in review...

So, 2009 has come and gone. It was definitely one of the crazier years for our family!! But we still made the most of it and had lots of fun and made some great memories...Let's review the Biggest milestones for our family in ....

2009

~So let's see...where to begin?? I took a fun photography class in January--(but unfortunately, am still not any better at quality picture taking. Or have yet to catch up on any one's scrapbooks...), but I did get a really nice new camera that I love and enjoyed taking pictures of all our fun activities this past year.

~In February Ellie turned the BIG 5. We decide to go to Disneyland to celebrate her big day and then decided to buy season passes for the whole family (and have definitely gotten our money's worth over the whole year as we went about 10 times!)

~In March we had some hair-brained idea to build on a 4th bedroom to our house... Which leads to ripping up 80% of our floors... Which leads to laying new wood floors and base boards... Which leads to repainting most of our house... which leads to a very crazy time in our lives!! (Need I remind you that I was 8 months preggo??)

April *13th~ Little William Mark was born. He has truly been an AMAZING baby. However, having 3 kids slowed me down physically, yet sped me up emotionally. A LOT. (Mark can attest)

May

*8th~My oldest sister Mandy got married in SLC, UT and our whole family flew out. (Will is 3 weeks old)

*9th~ We blessed little Will in the same church building Mark (and Ellie) was blessed in.

*This month, Maddy also decided it was time to potty train--right after getting back from our UT trip!--then 2 days later (22nd) my youngest brother Tommy graduated from hs--road trip to St. George UT. (Will was 4 1/2 weeks old)

June~

*10th~Ellie graduated from preschool--her final year before kindergarten!

*17th~ We celebrated Mark's birthday--true OC style.

July~

*Ellie learned to swim!!!

*12th-19th~ We spent a week in Newport Beach with Mark's whole family living it up and soaking up the sun.

*29th~ Mark and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We celebrated by taking a nice, relaxing little getaway to Orange County--without the girls.

August~

*20th~Ellie started kindergarten (sniff! sniff!)

*27th~We become a soccer family. Every Saturday for the next 10 weeks or so is spent at the soccer fields, not to mention every Wed night at practice.

September~

*Maddy started going to preschool two days a week , plus had an extra day being gone at a co-op play date.

*I turned 30 and we enjoyed a few day in OC and then started my mid-life crisis! (30--REALLY?!?!)

October~

*Halloween and all the festivities that it entails. (Complete with being one of Ellie's class room parents too.)

November~

*6th~Maddy turned 3. (enough said...) We did celebrate with a fun filled weekend getaway at La Costa Resort in Palm Springs--hanging out at the pool, water slides and lazy river among other fun things.

*14th~ Soccer ends. We reclaim our Saturdays. Until next season anyway...

*Spent a week at Thanksgiving in OC. We celebrate the big day with dad, Nancy and Tommy. We also went to Sea World, Disneyland (2 days) and then all our partying puts Mark over the edge and then he is out for 2 1/2 weeks with the swine flu...

December~

*While trying to play catch-up from Mark's bout with illness, the month goes by in a whirlwind--Christmas shopping, packing for 5 to UT (um...we have NO winter clothes!!), and all while trying to squeeze in all our wonderful holiday traditions...

*18th-29th~ Road trip to Utah to spend Christmas with all three of our families.

**And then back home to spend a little time "stay-cationing" in our beautiful San Diego before our crazy life resumes.

**So let's recap... (Now mind you--these were just the biggest events that we listed)...so...in 2009, we did a HUGE remodel, had our 3rd child, celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. Ellie starts kindergarten, begins playing soccer and learns to swim. Maddy is potty trained, dethroned as the "baby" of the family and starts preschool 3 days a week. Will joined our family and by force has had to become the best baby ever as he gets dragged from activity to activity. We spent lots of time this year at Disneyland, Sea World, and the beach, not to mention every park in San Diego. We visited northern Utah, southern Utah, Orange County, and Palm Springs a couple of times each and had a blast! We also had lots of visitors--Angie and family, Robin, Grandma Trish, Grandpa Ed and Grandma Nancy, Grandma Connie, Gary and family, John and Amy, Ash and Wes-- just to name a few...

Here's a toast to 2009 (imagine me holding up my glass of Martinelli's...)--

2009 treated us well, but let's hope 2010 is a little less crazy for us!!!

Christmas Chaos!!

We had a wonderful--yet CRAZY Christmas this year! We attended many fun, festive parties, a play and a nutcracker ballet, we paid a visit to Santa's Village and then Santa came to visit us!! We enjoyed all the holiday foods and treats, the joyous lights (even though we didn't get ours up this year!) and then we headed to Utah (the first White Christmas since Ellie was 10 months old!!) and we had a blast visiting everyone from both sides of our families.

Here's a sneak peek into all the holiday happenings.... (More to come...)

Our ward Christmas party

Santa's Village with friends

How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Old Globe Theatre

(We were so excited that Maddy is now three and could attend--Will had his first babysitter!)

Christmas Eve Santa came to town to check up on the little ones

We had such a great time! A little chaotic, but we wouldn't have it any other way!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!