Super Hero's

Today was "super hero" day at school. Gloria immediately knew that she wanted to be "Super Sleeper" and go in her pajama's! She and her friends had decided yesterday that it would be cool to all come in their jammies. Grayson wanted to be "super lips", but also wanted to wear some fun clothes.... thus his costume. Cami didn't have anything and really wanted a cape. But she didn't have one. So, this morning I decided that I could quickly come up with something for her. When Livie saw me make a cape and shirt for Cami, she KNEW that she NEEDED to be a super hero too. So, I QUICKLY pinned a cape to her shirt and hot glued a piece of material to her shirt... it was a little tacky, but it got her out the door to school- and so we are a family of super hero's today!!

Fall Festival

We recently went to a fall festival for a local school. While we were there we had the chance to ride a zebra, a mini-horse, a mini-donkey, pet a skunk and a wolf and see other animals. The kids had a great time!!

Hawk Festival

Every year our school holds a fund raising festival. We call it 'Hawk Festival". It is so much fun for everyone. It is sponsored by the PTA and raises a lot of money for computers and field trips and other things. The best part is, everyone walks away feeling like they went to a carnival and not a fund raising event. Each classroom is responsible for putting together a basket for a silent auction and also for putting together a booth for kids to come to. We have bouncy houses and karaoke and food and dunk tanks and dancing and shows. Cake walk. Hair painting and face painting. Fishing pond. Games. So much to do. It is so fun and we look forward to it every year. This year I am so excited because I FINALLY won (after 3 years of bidding on it in the silent auction) the school parking spot!!! Other than a handicap spot, it is the closest parking to the school and you get your name painted on it and no one can park there except for me!!! Whoo Hoo. It is pretty cool, especially because I go to the school every day. If you are not there before the crack of dawn then you have to park up the huge hill and far away- and when I am running with 4 kids on a chilly winter morning I will be thankful for my up front spot. I am so happy. I also won 2 framed pictures of Yosemite taken by a local photographer. They are wonderful. The lady who took them is an amazing photographer (Johnny Stafford photography) and I am so thrilled. We had a great time and look forward to doing it again next year.

More soccer

Soccer really is a huge part of our everyday lives right now. We have practice and games every day of the week except Tuesday and Sunday. We are usually at the soccer field every night until 7:30 or 8:00. We love running and playing and we have a great time. Here are some pictures of Gray and Cami from last Saturday's games. They are both GREAT players and really love getting out on the field and running around. Grayson lost his first game EVER in 3 years- since he started playing. Two weeks ago he experienced his first ever lost. I think it is good for him :) Builds a little character.... it was an intense game and so fun to watch because it was so close the whole time. We are really enjoying this soccer season because Livie is so easy and fun to have at the soccer field. During practices she loves to run and kick with the big kids (it helps that her mommy and daddy are coaches so we can let her come out and play with the big kids). She is excited for next year when she will be able to finally wear a uniform and play her own soccer games. This year she is great at cheering on her siblings. It has made this year so much more enjoyable than last year when we had to hold her and miss her naps and try to get her to stay on the side lines. This year she understands so much more and when she misses her naps it is fine. She doesn't turn into a monster. It's been a great year.

Soccer has begun

Soccer started the first week of September and I could not be any happier. We love soccer in this house. Travis and I are both coaching this year and we are loving our busy soccer life. The only non-soccer days at our house are Tuesday and Sunday. We are fine with that. The kids are doing so well in soccer this year. They love it and they enjoy practicing at home with dad and on the field with their teams. The nice thing about soccer is that it is such a family sport, at this point, anyway. All of the practices are at the school, which has a fun playground for the little ones to play on while the big ones practice. The practices are in the evening so Travis can come and help the coaches or play with the little ones. During the little one's practice, my two older kids get to help the coach (it helps that their dad is the coach). So he has them helping the little kids learn skills and running around. We all love it. On Saturday's we always plan on spending the whole day on the field. It is GREAT that all our games are on the same field. The field is 35 minutes away, so we usually just stay in Oakhurst all day.... between games we go to the park or the children's museum or go to a picnic lunch or the library. So much to do. This Saturday there is a Chocolate Festival going on in Oakhurst. So you can bet we will be visiting the festival between games :)

I only got pictures of Gloria's game this week (she is #3 and she is the one closest to the ball in the action shot).... I will get the other kids soon. It is all just how timing works out for me. I coach Gloria's team and Travis is coaching Grayson's team. We love it.

conference Sunday

This past Sunday was a first for our family.... the first time that I have had all my kids sitting quietly through both sessions of conference (it may have been due to the treats and new coloring books and stickers, it doesn't matter why- it just matters that they did!). It was so fabulous. Really. Conference is so much more amazing when you can sit and listen!! And so, while my kids were entertained and it was nice and quiet, I made this little Halloween Countdown calendar. I love the way it turned out. I had seen something like this in my Pottery Barn catalog and new that I would enjoy trying to recreate it. It is not exactly the way that I pictured it and I could a lot more with 4 more hours... but I do like it enough and My kids love it- and that is the important part :)

A great birthday

Today is my birthday, and it was a fabulous day!! Loved it. The day started out great at 5:30 with my KB class. The ladies were so sweet and I got a Roxy gift certificate and some sweet smelling lotion and candles and soaps.... so nice. They are the best girls in the world!! Then I came home to kids that were already dressed and fed!!! And, my hubby was packing the lunches (my least favorite part of the morning.... it made me so happy)! I went to the school to drop kids off and to teach 90 minutes of soccer and was surprised with an unexpected science day- soccer was dropped to the bottom of the priority list for the class, so I got to come home and get dressed and scrub my bathrooms (very unexpected, I didn't think that I would have time today, so it made me sooooo happy to have that extra time to fit it in, sweet). So far the day was perfect. Then my girlfriends took me out to get pedicures and then out to lunch. I really enjoyed that. It was so much fun and so relaxing. It was just perfect (thanks girls). Then I came home, and picked up Livie from school and brought her home for nap... and then I took a nap with her. A nice and long 4 hour nap. Tonight I got to go run laps for an hour on my own. It was so perfect and I couldn't imagine a more perfect day. This birthday is going down in the books. Happy birthday to me :)