Kickin' Off The Christmas Season....

Our little friend Rebecca was in a Parade this morning with her Girl Scout Troop, and Obee had to work overtime today, so the kids and I decided to go see Rebecca and the parade! The kids had a good time and it was nice to get out and do something different in the fresh air. :) Before the parade started, there were some crazy Elves dancing around outside the Magic Circle Theatre telling everyone that Santa was inside. The kids and I went in to check it out and they got to see Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas this year. Hayden went on and on about how he wants a "Bakugan Shooter" thing, and Ellie said she didn't need anything. Santa told them that he might get that, or he might surprise them with something different. Thanks Santa, for saying the right thing! My friend Sara took a picture of the kids with Santa, so I'll post that up here when I get it.

Has it really been THIS long?

This month seems to have just passed us by so quickly! I cannot believe I haven't posted anything on here since Halloween. Between the two of us going to school four days a week, Obee working, school, cub scouts, soccer, yard work and birthday's we have been VERY busy here! I'll try to play catch up as best as I can, but I don't have pictures of everything with me now.

SOCCER:

Well, soccer is over for the year and Hayden had his end of the year party last week. He was very excited to get his trophy and he has noticed that they get bigger each year. :) We made a little coaster album for his coach and she actually cried when he gave it to her, so I think she liked it!

VACATION TO MARS:

Hayden was in a play with his class this month that was not only super cute, but really funny too! It was called Vacation to Mars and was about a family that takes a vacation around the solar system. Hayden played a Mechanic and was a Ring of Saturn. In October they learned all there was to learn about the solar system so this was a fun way for them to finish up all they had learned!

A WHOLE NEW YARD:

Well, sort of! We finally ordered up some bark for our front and back yard, which was almost completely out of bark in the bark area's from the bad storms last year. We ordered 8 yards of bark and STILL didn't have enough to finish everything! We spent the entire weekend, last weekend, planting, digging, weeding, transplanting plants and spreading out the bark. I am MUCH happier with the way the front and back looks now and I think come spring it will look really pretty. We planted 200 bulbs in pots and in the front flower bed that should begin to bloom in a few months. We also moved our lemon tree and another random plant to the other side of our backyard, to make room for a "play area." We moved the swing set and the sandbox off of the lawn and now we have a nicer area for the kids to play that won't kill our lawn in the meantime. Also, for some strange reason, the kids will never play on the side of the yard where our lawn is, so the swings and sand will get alot more use where they are now (hopefully!) Hayden spent Saturday night at Grandma and Grampa's, so the yard work was left up to us and the girls!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS:

This month we had many birthday's to celebrate! Happy birthday to Alis, Anna, Melissa and my MOM! On the 8th, my friends Alis and Lupita and I went to San Francisco to celebrate the 30th birthday of my friend Anna. Anna and I have been friends since we were 9 years old, and we had so much fun going to dinner and dancing in the city. On the 16th, we celebrated the birthday of Alis, who I've been friends with since we were 15. We went to lunch at Il Fornaio (not really sure if I spelled that right!) and had fun just hanging out. Finally, on Wed. the 19th, we celebrated my mom's 57th birthday here at our house. We had some yummy tri-tip and salad for dinner and afterward we watched old home movies. It was exciting watching the movies all together and showing the kids what we all looked like way back when!

MY SICK GIRL:

Last week my poor Elliebelle was so sick! She woke up on Tuesday morning so excited about her new ballet class she was going to start that day, but ended up throwing up her breakfast and not being able to keep ANYTHING down for the next two days. She looked so sad and pathetic, poor baby. She literally stayed on the couch in the SAME position ALL day. On Wednesday, I had to go to the store to buy food for my mom's birthday dinner, and she slept in the cart the whole time we were there, then came home and slept on the couch another 5 hours! I took some pictures of her so sick on the couch. :(

1ST GRADE FEAST:On Wednesday, Hayden also had his last day of school before Thanksgiving break. My mom came over and watched the girls so I could go to his Feast at school and watch their little presentation. The kids each got up and said what they are thankful for and then they all sang a cute song with their turkey hats on.

BALLET:

Ellie started her ballet class today and although she refused to participate in almost the entire class, she claims that she loves it and can't wait to go back again! Sheesh this girl. She was all gung ho about going and it's been all she's talked about this last month. We got there and she went out for the first 2 minutes, then she looked back at me, got nervous and didn't want to participate anymore! She finally decided to loosen up a bit when the class was ending, but I had to go out on the floor with her so I didn't get any photos of her doing her thing! Hopefully Tuesday's class will go better! She stilled looked pretty darn cute though, don't ya think?!

Happy Halloween!

I think I can say with certainty that this year was one of our favorite Halloween's! When I finally tucked Hayden into bed tonight, he just kept saying, "Mommy, I had so much fun tonight. This was my most favorite Halloween ever!" I think we all agreed. We decided to have all of our closest friends over for a potluck dinner in the driveway and trick or treating afterward. I made Taco Soup and we set up the tables for eating and made a fun kids Halloween Music CD for listening. My parents arrived first with Haley, then Sara's family. We all hung out for awhile and ate dinner and waited for Alis, Sam and Lupita's families to arrive. After everyone had eaten, we all went off in our massive group to trick or treat. It got a little chaotic with so many, so we split up a little bit. After trick or treating, we came back to the house and hung out with Sara's family, and another family (Haley's friend) who had trick or treated with us as well. The kids got to dump all their candy out and check it all out, and spent the next hour or so playing together. My kids didn't get to bed until 9pm (which is a HUGE treat for them, if you know my kids). They set their candy buckets out for the Halloween Fairies by the front door and fell asleep right when they hit the pillow. The Fairies brought them some cool prizes for them to find in the morning in exchange for the candy.