Blake playing baseball in the snow with the dogs

Blake and I went to the school to play baseball. It snowed the other day, which was so beautiful. We had a great time together...and the dogs even got some excercise! We've had a very nice Christmas break together! Olivia spent the day with Emma playing with her new Liv dolls.

School Field Trip

Today we went to Meadow Camp for Olivia's second grade
field trip. Wow, was that a lof of fun. There were many
parent volunteers, which made the trip wonderful. It's always
nice to meet other parents and let them know what wonderful
kids they have, even when they are not present. They learned
about the river bed, pine needles, the weather and it's ever
changing patterns. We had camp fires and hot chocolate. It
was such a wonderful learning experience for the kids as well
as for Blake and I. I have to say that I am really impressed
with Olivia's teachers! What a wonderful day. Oh yeah, I
forgot to mention it was Blake's first experience on a school
bus. He was sooo excited! He especially liked that he didn't
have to wear a seatbelt! What a rebel!

Blake and the Dentist

Poor ol' Blake spent the morning at the dentist's office getting some much
needed cavities taken care of. He was so good. He was excited, but nervous
to go. This morning I told Blake to make sure he flossed his teeth. He said with
a straight face, "because you don't want to look like a bad mommy?". Well, too late
I thought to myself, we are going because you already have cavities...wow, I am a bad
mom! =) The dentist kept telling me and him what a great job he was doing. I
agreed. After we were done Blake said he can't wait to go back and see Dr. Jay
(let's hope it's just for a cleaning though!). We also made a pit stop to DQ for
a Dilly bar as a treat, hence the cavities. Anyway, have you been to DQ and
gotten a Dillybar lately? Wow, there is a lot of variety now....Heath, Butterscotch,
Chocolate, Butterfinger....I was amazed. I'm sure more, those candy covered ones
just caught my attention. Yummy! Even at 10:45 in the morning. Gotta love treats!
As we were leaving the house before school this morning I found some school
work that Blake had completed from Olivia's class when he and I vonlunteered
the other day. Olivia was quick to point out that Blake's work looked much better
than hers. I just had to laugh. Blake's coloring and letters were a little more precise
than hers, but really they were both nice. She didn't think it was very funny, after I
laughed, of course. He was happy that he was able to second grade work, she was not.

Sunday Football

After the football game and horsing around and cookie making we
met some friends at the movies for milkshakes and pizza! What fun!

This is Sunday Football at its finest. I love these guys!
We went to the school nearby so they can swing and play.
The dogs even got some exercise in too! I love hanging out with them; running, playing, swinging, etc.
Then...low and behold a friendly game of football breaks out.
We love football season, especially when the Ducks are playing!

Fall Fun

Here are some photos of Olivia playing soccer.
She is a great little player and loves every minute of it!!
The infamous colors of her uniform...well, she wasn't too happy
that it is orange and black. Blake thought it was funny to tease
her the evening she got her uniform and kept calling her "Beaver lover",
needless to say that didn't go over very well after some tears fell.
So, he stopped after a stern talking to and she proceeded to
let me know that she really likes to play soccer, just doesn't
like her uniform colors!
She definately didn't get her speed from me, that's for sure. She
is really fast and can continue smiling after she's just sprinted from
one side of the field to the other. I'll be honest, I don't know the
first thing about soccer, other than the idea is to get the ball in the
goal and you aren't supposed to touch it with your hands. So, I guess
I'll never really be a true "soccer mom", I just cheer and yell for them
to score a goal!!








The kids and I had a great time one afternoon taking photos in the
beautiful backdrop of Tumalo State Park. My favorite one is where
Blake kissed Olivia and then cracked up about it! We are so lucky to
live in such a beautiful place!!

These guys are my very favorite two people to hang out with! they are
loving and so so funny. I can't imagine my days without them and the joy
thier laughter gives me is indescribable!!!

Cancun Baby!!

The kids and I just got back from Cancun with some friends. We were there for a week. It was really nice, we scheduled it while there were parent-teacher conferences, so they only had to take 3 days off of school. The weather was beautiful and the people were really nice also. We met a lot of people from around the world and made friends very quickly with a lot of them and the locals also. We took the kids to a pirate show and a dolphin show also. The pirate show was theatrical. We went out in the large ships and "battled" the green ship and won. We had a dance party after the battle. After the ship thing we took the wrong bus home and that was truley and ordeal, but we eventually got home and got up to do the same thing all over again.....beach, pool, lay out, eat and drink! The hotel also had shows each night, all of which were really good also. There was a monkey in which the kids could take a photo with, we just let them pet it and then wash their hands like crazy!!! The place we stayed at was very kid friendly. The kids had as many virgin margs and daquari's as they wanted!! =) There was a wonderful kid's water area in which there were water slides and pirate ships and castles to explore. There was also a game room with pool and ping pong and air hockey. The boys enjoyed this option for an afternoon. The best place for them was the ocean! It was so warm, like a bath. There was a significant undertoe, but I felt pretty safe in the water with them. We went to a dolphin show and the aquarium later in the week. That was pretty cool to see them perform and the kids really enjoyed it also. The sunset is from the lagoon side, which was really amazingly beautiful also. All in all we had a wonderful time together and it was nice to come home, just not to the cold weather!! Although, when we came into the front door Olivia said, "It sure is nice to be home. Let's go to bed!". I felt the same way.....nice to be home!


This is the view from our balcony. It was so nice waking up to this each morning. It was the "off" season so it was really quite. It felt like we had the place to ourselves.


This is one of my favorite photos.
This is a sunset at the lagoon before the dolphin show.
Olivia having fun in the infinity pool.


The cute little monkey (infested with germs, I'm sure).


The kids and I from the balcony of our room.



This is the kid's area where the water slides and fun continued.

Disneyland

Juli and I put on the girl's custom made Mickey ears. We had to get a photo!

Getting ready for the nightly parade. Olivia rushed out there to boogie with the characters. The kids said it was one of the highlights of the whole trip, besides Kaleb's birthday, of course!

We were able to catch a lot of characters in Cal Grand Adventure to get autographs. The kids rushed from one to another, getting signatures and photos. The lines weren't too bad and each character was very nice and accomodating! Pluto was the funniest. He kept playing tug-of-war with Kaleb's book and sealed it with a slobery kiss!

The kids had the most wonderful time in the pool. We would hit the park and then head to the pool mid-day and then back to the park. They played tag, motor boat, you name it! We had such a great time and even were able to get a little tan.

Olivia and I at tha Autopia. Can I say...lame ride? After waiting for about 25ish minutes it was a really boring ride, although I know that she isn't anywhere near getting her lisence! She was banging into the curb left and right before she realized that she would let me drive....thank goodness!!

Blake and I on the matterhorn. He loved this ride. It was the first more adventurous ride we did. It's hard to remember Disneyland when I was a kid, so this was all that much more fun...is that correct grammar? Oh well! You get the point.

Here are the kids in front of the hotel fountain. When we first got there we told them it was the swimming pool, surprising enough they were excited! Guess excitement was just in the air while we were there.
We had a wonderful time making memories together! The kids got a long very well, considering we were together non-stop for 5 whole days and nights. Olivia nd Blake had their first airplane ride there and thought that was pretty cool. Bless Blake's heart, he thought in order to land we had to put on a parachute and jump out of the plane. I had the hardest time not laughing when he asked me about it and he said he was a little scared. I would've been really scared if that was the case...how'd I get all of our suitcases strapped on my back without plummeting to the ground? Overall we had the most wonderful vacation...no, we are just ready for summer and planning others!