Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we took some family pictures.  First of all...getting my family to take pictures is like an act of Congress.  Second of all, it is always so expensive!!!  The last time we took family pictures it was an outrageous amount of money and I liked two of them...And the two I liked were single shots of the boys by themselves.  Not really what I was going for.

Fast forward to our October break when Matt's teacher got married and the photographer tagged her in some pictures on Facebook.  As I was looking through her pictures, I noticed the photographer was running a mini-session for the holidays.  I looked at Rich and said this...."Listen, the total price for everything is $75.  I need you to show up, with a positive attitude, smile for thirty minutes, and we are done.  Do you think you can handle that?"  He just stared at me for an extended amount of time, with a look on his face that was funny and little annoying...so, I took that as a 'Yes' and booked it!

I am still a fan of black and white pics...

I do like this one...however, we can't see where the top of Rich's head ends. :)

Love...

Why must he look so old???  Why?

 

 

And Ryan...I think that smile says it all.

And I put this one on only because we were laughing so hard when she was taking this series of pics of us together.  When she turned and said look at each other, we both started laughing and said..Really?  Because we have to look at each other EVERY DAY!!!!  And really...these aren't engagement pictures capturing our love...I hate those!!!

Having said that...I don't hate this one.

Saturday Fun!!!

On Saturday, Matt had some of his friends (and some of Ryan's) come together for his birthday and play flag football.  This was all his idea and I am giving him all the credit because it was a huge success.  We had about twelve boys come and meet at the park for a friendly game of flag football.  When, let me tell you that these boys played for three hours straight...THEY PLAYED FOR THREE HOURS STRAIGHT!!!  The only time they took a break was to have cupcakes and open gifts, and I think we timed that at about eight minutes, and then they were off again to play.  It was the easiest birthday in the history of birthdays.  I merely fed them if they were hungry and kept them hydrated....everything else they worked out themselves.

The other great part about the boys that came was that they were mostly all brothers.  We have a lot of friends who have boys both Matt and Ryan's age and so they both came to play.  And boy, were they serious.  Jerseys on, cleats optional, and flags everywhere.  So much fun! 

I also loved that many of the dads came and stayed, even though I said, "Go, go enjoy your afternoon!!"  They wanted to be out and playing just as much as the kids!

And I have to include this picture....we went to our friends house, Brent and Sharon's, for dinner that night.  They have girls, we have boys, but somehow they still love hanging out together.  Here they are, late in the evening after some serious indoor four-square games, playing Mindcraft.  They could not have been happier.

Last year in the single digits....

I told Matt yesterday that this birthday kicked off his last year in single digits.  He couldn't be happier, I wish his mother could say the same.  For his birthday he wanted to change his room around.  It was like he was transitioning from kid room to big kid room.  He wanted a new desk, a new dresser, a nightstand, an alarm clock, and all new bedding.  After all was given (yes, all) we each stepped back and looked at the room with a heavy sigh.  It definitely looked like a big kids room.  As I was processing the entire thing, feel sad about what I saw, all of a sudden my eyes locked on two items that made me breathe a little easier.  There, in the midst of this transformation, was a table full of Legos and a few stuffed animals on top of his bed.  It was a gift.  Like a small sign that this childhood wasn't quite over yet.  At the end of the night I went in to say good night and see how the new bedding was.  He grinned and said it was perfect.  I grabbed the covers and crawled in bed for a second, watched a little Tom and Jerry with him, loving the quiet, and that is when he said it....

"In five years, that's when I get my cell phone, right?"

Talk about a mood killer.  I told him that we will discuss it as it gets nearer.

This what nine years old looks like.

Of course the cake had to be fishing!!!

 



 

 

And quickly, not to forget Halloween.

 

Representing the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers

 I'm not going to lie....this was the first year that I didn't make a costume and it was depressing.  As much as it stresses me out, I do love making them.  I was all set to make a Pacman costume for Matt when he changed his mind and just wanted to be a football player.  How boring.

 

Trick or treating almost did them in.  They were EXHAUSTED by the end of the night.   



Football and Fishing

I thought I would get in a quick post before the Halloween craziness happens.

Last Saturday was Matt's last football game. I'm so sad. No more Saturday football. I think I am sad for a number of reasons. First of all, it is so exciting to watch and I genuinely like every player on his team. You know how there is usually one or two in the bunch you can do without?? That's not the case with his team. I love the boys he plays with. They are good kids, nice kids, well mannered kids and a fun group to sit and listen to. I am also sad because this is the last time they will play all together because next year is draft and they will all be split up. Greg (Matt's coach) said on Saturday that he hasn't enjoyed coaching a team as much as he had these kids the last two years. And as parents we were all a little reluctant to leave because we knew that the likelihood of a lot of them playing together again was not there and that we would also miss seeing each other too.  

First play of the game.  I think that is what some would refer to as a game face. 

Who loves the eye patches for pink October!?

Hand off from Ryker.

The boy chasing him is his old teammate.

He went pretty far, but no touchdown today.

I just LOVE, LOVE these boys!

One last time, let's bring it in...

Go Giants!!!

Coach Bishop.  Yep...this was luck.  Who wouldn't love having an ex-NFL player as a coach.

Matthew is done until January with sports!!  Ryan starts basketball this weekend.

And on to fishing.  This past weekend, at Matt's suggestion, my mom took both boys up to Apple Hill to fish.  The last time they went, Matt was the only one who went and so he thought Ryan would like it. He was also semi feeling sorry for Ryan that he hadn't caught a fish yet at all and what better place to catch a fish where they stock the pond.  As you may guess, Matthew had a complete strategy going into this trip and it went something like...."I will help him cast out his line and then I will help snag the fish and then help him reel it in because he has never done that before and he needs to be strong and I can help him so he gets his first fish."  Nothing like a huge run-on sentence to squeeze in as much as you can to try and manipulate the situation. 

Here it is...his first fish!  One HAPPY boy!

HOLY SH&%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that title says it all.

I am happy/lucky to be bringing you this post from the safety of my home, and not from a random motel off some interstate in God only knows where.  Because that's where I could have been...if not for my Dad who BAILED ME OUT BIG TIME.

This morning I was on the phone with my sister talking about her new family member arriving at their house today (picture below).  I told her that we had a football game and then a birthday party to go to in the bay area, so it was going to be a busy day.  While we were chatting about all things important (I'm sure)...that is when it happened.  I grabbed my necklace to put it on and it dropped in the sink.  I GASPED out loud and said, "Oh my God!  That was close!!"  As I reached down to grab the necklace that was circling the drain in my sink, it slipped and fell straight down the drain.

Meet Ellie.

You know that feeling of fight or flight?  Do I stay and think of a game plan to somehow saw the sink in half to retrieve the necklace???  Or do I just get in the car and keeping driving until the authorities find me???  It's bad when you sit and really ponder the second question with more thought and detail. 

Heart pounding, immediate pit in my stomach I decided that the drain looked like it could be friendly enough for someone to take it apart and be put back together again.  I felt that if I had a few words with it, it might understand that being cooperative was really the best deal for both of us.  Because to lose THIS necklace....would be bad.

Here's the deal, or history behind the necklace.  I got the necklace.....wait for it....wait for it....when Rich got home from his bachelor party in Las Vegas.  Yep, that same thought you're having now right now was the same one that went through my mind when he placed the Tiffany's box in front of me upon his return.  I remember just staring at the box thinking....I want to know what is in there soooooo bad, but I don't want to know what he did to warrant a gift like this.  It must have been pretty bad, because this guy doesn't part with a penny easily and I am pretty sure this wasn't cheap, which means he felt guilty.  And with guilt, comes diamonds.  This can't be good. 

I have to say, I really don't wear the necklace often.  I only started wearing it again because I went away with some friends a couple weeks ago and told them the story behind the necklace and one of the ladies wanted to see it, so I wore it to work to show her.  Since then, I have been wearing it everyday.  And let me also take the time to say this....I don't wear nice things because I tend to lose them.  Not that this necklace is the hope diamond or anything, but other than my ring, it is the nicest gift in jewelry that I have received.  I rarely wore the necklace for fear that I would lose it, so I started saving it for nice occasions only.  Yeah, but here's the thing...when you are a teacher and you don't really have a life that lends itself to nice occasions, those times were few and far between so I said screw it and started wearing it again!  And that almost came back to bite me today.

When my Dad showed up at Matt's game I basically begged him to come over and help. He said he would and I told him that we needed to devise a plan because I needed to head to a birthday party, but be back in time for him to come over before Rich got home.  If the plan worked...why would Rich even have to know this little accident happened???  And then I remembered them....Matthew and Ryan.  Those little sh&%'s have sold me out before and it was only a matter of time before they did it again.  They were probably chomping at the bit to tell Rich because of all the times I ratted them out to Rich about something they had done!  They were almost giddy at the prospect of me going down.

Football was tough...we had our first loss today.  I think I took it harder than Matthew.  We headed to Pleasanton and had a great time at the birthday party.  My friend Emilie's boys turned 1 and 3 and she had a superhero party for them.  It was beyond cute and a reminder for me why we don't do birthday parties.  Look at these capes....every kid had one. 

 

My dad met us at our house and within five minutes my necklace was recovered.  Grateful doesn't even begin to describe my feeling.  Because to be honest, in my thought of fight or flight....I was thinking the flight plan was weak because it really would have been a matter of time before Rich cancelled my credit card and then there's the whole thing of him being able to find me easily...yada, yada, yada.  So, for now I am safe.  However, I may have to change where I take off  and put on my jewelry from now on.  Who knows how many times those pipes can be taken off and put back on again.

D-Land with Friends!

Last week we headed to Disneyland to get one more trip in before our passes expired.  Lucky for us we were there with two other families, and so it just wasn't the four of us going together on the same old rides over and over.  Nope, these other families have small children too, and even better....their kids aren't afraid of big kid rides.  So, naturally, my mother's instincts kicked in and I thought to myself---What better way to get our kids on new rides than peer pressure from younger, smaller kids!  Genius, right???  Because at this point, I have no shame.  We go on the SAME rides over and over and getting the boys to try something new is like an act of Congress.  So, when I had these adorable little friends at my disposal to make my boys feel ridiculous for not going on the rides that clearly they had met the height requirement for, I was not going to miss this chance.

To be honest, we hadn't been this excited to go in a while.  Cars Land opened in June and we were so anxious to get down and see all of the new rides and fun stuff that was there.  On Sunday morning, when we arrived at 6:15am (yes, you read that right), we were able to have early entry for Cars Land and get a jump on Radiator Springs Racers because the average wait time was around one and half to two hours.  With the early entry, we thought we would be able to get a jump on things.  And, let me remind you...this was all planned out.  The three families had gotten together for a Disneyland/Cars Land Planning Committee to map out and plan our attack so that we would use the time wisely.  There was a full on plan!  And at approximately four minutes after Cars Land opened, the plan was no longer in effect.  I blame Rich for this.  He really was the one who spear-headed this attack plan if you will and he was the leader who took the group off course immediately.  As we were to all RUN to RSR to avoid a long wait, he was sucked into another ride and all of a sudden, the plan was scrapped.  Not only did he and the kids ride Junkyard Jamboree, they then went and rode Luigi's Flying Tires.  As Luis and Lindsay and I looked at each other, mouths open and a little ticked off, we were like, "What happened to the plan?????"  Luckily for Rich and his followers, RSR was not working and so it ended up not being a bad thing.

Here are the boys waiting in line for RSR...we only waited about a half hour because it was clearly not going to be up and running anytime soon.

The greatest part of Cars Land opening???  No lines for Toy Story Mania!

Later on that day we met up with the Fuentes Family and were able to add to the number of kids in our pack.  I loved how excited everyone was to see each other and the kids were so excited to ride the rides together.

Here is Bella, Matthew, Emma, and Ryan.  (Emma and Ryan...that is a whole other blog post.)

Everyone wearing their crowns after Goofy's Sky School.

Sunday night, the wait was finally over. Fast passes in hand, we headed to RSR for our first race!!! Here's what I have to say...It was RIDICULOUS FUN!!!  Worth the wait and we could not wait to ride it again the next day!

Okay, can we just talk about the weather???  And how horribly hot it was?????  Miserable hot.  The weatherman was saying that this heatwave was the worst LA had had in fifteen years.  So Monday we had a plan...off early to DL and then back to the pool for some swimming.

Happy Halloween!!!!

These three were inseparable!

 A little pool time!

Speaking of pool time.  Here is my problem.  I don't think I can visit another pool that has a bar service and not think of Aulani (our Hawaii trip) and not order a drink.  It was almost physically impossible to not grab the drink and snack menu from the nice gentleman's hand as he walked by.  And for nostalgic reasoning, Rich and I both ordered a pina colada because it's what we do now... we have turned into those people.  And I have never been happier in my life to be those people.  More importantly as we were sipping our frozen drinks, I was slowly able to chip away at the Hawaii timeline that was years away.  Put that guy in a lounge chair with a frothy drink and he starts thinking differently... and I will use that to my advantage any time I can!

Okay...back to the original start of this post:  Peer pressure and why I could care less I let others use it on my kids. 

Matthew caved in to the peer pressure more than Ryan.  Which is technically how it should be, seeing as if he is three years older.  The rides he "promised" to go on were:  Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and Star Tours.  He only technically went on Tower of Terror...which was HUGE because I didn't think he was going to go on any of them.  The first time went on (yes, I said first), his face was priceless.  As the ride came to a stop, he simply turned to me and said, "Where are we?"  I try not to make a habit of laughing at my kids....but, that was hysterical.  As freaked out as he was, he went right back on it the next day.  And one more...I will give him props for agreeing to go on California Screamin'.  Fast pass in hand, Gavin right next to him, we headed over to cross this off the list--except it was shut down because it wasn't running right.  Lindsay and I looked at each other and started laughing because we both saw the look on Matt's face---I HAVE BEEN SAVED.  To be able to capture on one's face the look of relief...I wish I had my camera.

Now onto Ryan.  As we were walking over to Tower of Terror (yes, we were going to take him on it), he  all of a sudden felt sick.  And in his words--in a strained, fearful voice, "Do you want me to get sick and throw up on the ride???"  And as he ran away giggling to join the other kids not going, it was clear that he had won that round.  The next day, not so much.  Splash Mountain!!!  Bring it!  Every kid who hit the height requirement was going, if he didn't go. he would have been the ONLY ONE NOT GOING.  Finally!  Finally!!  He caved and went.  And loved it.  Seriously loved it. 

The final night we were there was the after hours trick or treat night.

A little grub at our favorite pasta place! 

Somehow this is the only picture I have of the gang.  From left: Bella, Matt, Emma, Ryan, Gavin, Gianna, and Gilia.

And a little Mickey to get everyone into the holiday spirit!!

Horrible picture--yes.  Milestone accomplished???  You bet!!  He FINALLY made it to the single rider car!!! 

Happy Halloween!!!