Welcome to OUR World!

Update

2011-10-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been SO long since we updated. Lots has happened.

In the end of June we took a trip to San Diego and went to Sea World and the Beach. The kids had a blast it was nice to be able to take a vacation. Brandon has been doing alot of traveling with work over the last few months. Good for the checkbook at times, but not so good for family time. We are very blessed that he still has a job in this economy though.

The kids started school at their new charter in August and they LOVE it. Sean is still in his Autism program, but they have him attending some "specials" with the regular 5th grade class as well as Social Studies and Science with them too. Most of his friends are still there from last year, but he has made a few new friends this year as well. He gets to join Lexis class and that has been good for both of them. Lexi is in the 5th grade as well and is doing really well. Its a small class with only 14 students. Very close knit group, very much like a little family. She has made quite a few friends. She is doing the cheer and dance club with school and also attends the release time chapel program on Fridays. Its non denominational but has been a good way to help with learning character traits and things that we hope that the kids they attend school with will learn. Being that their charter is linked with a church and owned and run by a Pastor they are very BIG on family values and the majority of the kids that attend are Christian families with good values. We havent had anything close to the bullying we had before and we are SO grateful for that. It seems to be a GREAT fit for us. We are praying it continues to stay that way. They go up through 12th grade so hopefully we will be able to remain with this program til the end.

In the end of August we moved to a new house. If you want the new address and you dont have it just send us an email and we will send it to you. Its been a great fit. Alot more space than before. Its right behind Brandons office so it cuts his commute by more than 3/4 of the time. And a couple miles closer to the kids school. Its been great to have the space to have people over. We were able to have Brandons mom come over for dinner, and we have been able to hold the Blaylock Family fast Sunday get togethers here which has been a much better fit for the kids. We are enjoying getting to spread out, the kids have there space and we have ours. We arent on top of each other anymore. We got the office out of our bedroom so we have our own space now that is not community space. Thats been nice. Having a laundry room inside instead of in the garage has been great too. We have a large yard for the kids to enjoy when the weather cools off. So far they have played out in a small dirt area and on the covered patio but not much in the rest of the yard. It has some overgrown weeds and dead tree that we are in the process of removing and then it will be the perfect outdoor space for them. We are settling in nicely.

Lexi had her first sleepover with her new friends a couple weeks ago. We were really nervous about it since we dont know the family well, but we decided that since we know they were a very Christian family and that it was important for Lex to feel connected with these kids that it would be a good thing. She really enjoyed herself and really bonded with them much more. This was important since this group was a little clique before she came to the school. Its been nice for her to feel accepted by them. There are only 6 girls in the class and 4 of them had been at school together since Kindergarten. She really enjoys their friendship now. She also started a ceramics class at Mesa Arts Center in September. That was the only thing she wanted for her bday (She got more than that =) but that was all she asked for) she has missed a couple classes from being sick, but she has really enjoyed it and is sad that it will be ending soon.

Other than that not much has gone on. Looking forward to a visit with the kids baby cousin (who is a year old now) we havent seen him since he was a couple months old. And the kids are gearing up for Halloween. We are enjoying our fall break now, unfortunately Brandon is out of town this week so we havent been able to spend any real time with him. We spent Lexis birthday here at the house, not much celebration but we did do a little family thing with just the 4 of us after Brandon got back into town. Sean birthday is coming up next month as well. And looking forward to our first Christmas here. We are just renting here but plan on staying for awhile while we get our finances back in order to buy again.

Anyway, thats our last few months in a nut shell.
I will try to update with each of the upcoming Holidays so you can see what we have had going on.
Talk to you all soon. Love ya <3

Golfland (May 23rd)

2011-06-02T06:34:00.001-07:00

Brandon was home from out of town and had the day off, so we enjoyed a FUN family day of golfing. It was nice to get to spend the day together.... BUT it was SO HOT!

Both of the kids got a HOLE IN ONE they were SO excited!

I finally ended up infront of the camera, I really do participate in family fun!!! =)

Enjoying a nice cold icee afterwards, it was HOT!

Our Homeschool Zoo Fieldtrip! Just me and the kids (May 20th)

2011-06-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

On Lexis last day of her online program we finished early..>
SO with the permission of her online teacher we took an end of the year fieldtrip to the zoo. Lexi said it was the best fieldtrip she has ever had =) warms my heart!

One of the first things we got to see on our adventure was a baby prarie dog, can you find him????

He is SO little that he is hard to see, but we had SO much fun watching him, he was SOOOOO Cute!

Hunting for animals is hard work, gotta stop for a snack break....

I love my little love bugs......

Riding on the train is always a highlight of the trip for us....

We remembered our swim suits this time so we were able to play in the wark parts....

Leaving with our loot in hand =)

Social Learning Group (April and May)

2011-06-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

The kids have been enjoying our time that we have been spending learning and growing and playing with our friends over the last couple months. Here are a few pictures from our Tuesday Thursday group learning time with them.
Enjoy!

(watch the slideshow of images of learning time, playtime, etc.)

P.S. I am not in any of the pics, I have enjoyed being behind the camera. In the pics you will not only see Sean and Lexi, but you will see their friends Johnny and Jamie as well as Coach Kym our habilitation friend and the boys mom Anne!

Easter Pics (April 23rd and 24th)

2011-06-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

I know its late, but better late then never, right???
Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the moments. Stay tune for more catch up moments.

HANGING WITH THE BLAYLOCK CLAN:
Movie time, easter baskets and playtime with the cousins!

Getting ready to go see Gnomeo and Juliet:

Special Treats from Grandpa:

HANGING WITH THE DOUCET CLAN:
Play time with cousins, bbq dinner and easter egg hunter. FUN TIMES!

The Egg Hunt

EASTER MORNING:
Special treats.... Lexi is really into journaling and reading chapter books, Harry Potter in this case, and Sean is into Star Wars and Transformers.

I know I fail.....

2011-05-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

OK I know its been over a month.... I do have a couple posts to make. Its been a busy couple months. I will try to get them done this weekend. Bare with me. There are Eaters Pics, Social Learning Group and also a Zoo Fieldtrip to post about; as well as little changes here and there. Keep Checking Back. Love you ALL!!! <3

More than just ONE day......

2011-04-03T07:30:00.001-07:00

APRIL IS AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH!!!
Keep spreading the word. Help us shine a light on Autism!

Are you AWARE????

2011-04-01T09:23:00.001-07:00

APRIL 2ND IS NATIONAL AUTISM AWARENESS DAY!!!!
Spread the word! I am sure that if you reached out to those around you that you would find that you either know someone close to you (or know of someone) with Autism or an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Do you know what that is or is it just a name to you? Do you know how special these little souls are? Find out more:

Click here for a simple definition and explanation.

Wanna know more in depth click here.

I have the privelage of having not just one but two of these special little beings in my family. My brother Michael is 19 years old (almost 20)and was diagnosed with Autism when he was 4 yrs old. And my precious little munchin Sean was just "officially" diagnosed this last year with Aspergers (High Funtioning Autism). I say its a privelage but it definately comes with its own challenges. Every day is an adventure. They are definately little puzzles. They have alot to share with this world and they are not afraid to hide it. I have learned more from them then they will ever know. More about life and living, more about unconditional love. More about what it means to be "SPECIAL".

I have learned:
They dont need pity (and neither do their families), They dont need tears of sadness (its not terminal, they still have a ton of living to do) they just need love and understanding and compassion. They need people willing to help guide them on this scary path of life. Take the time to look at the world through their eyes, you might find out what an AMAZING place it can be (even if it is a little confusing and scary at the same time)!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....
Share the word, Spread the message. Learn more and be informed. Help where you can. Reach out.

Thanks for ALL the LOVE and SUPPORT that you offer to US every day! We LOVE you guys!

More Catch Ups.....

2011-04-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been So long since we caught up. There has been alot going on. Here are just a few of the tidbits.

February-March:
Lexi has been homeschooling and loving it. She has been working hard on several projects with art and math and science. Its been great to be a part of her learning on more of a one on one level. Here are a few of her recent projects.

March 26th: Brandon brought us back goodies from his trip. It was fun to see how excited the kids got over their new shirts and I love that I can carry his heart around with me all the time so I am never alone even when he is gone =)

March 22nd: We have made a ton of trips to the park lately to get in Lexis PE time since she isnt in school and isnt getting as much play and excerize time. It also allows her to interact with kids on more than just a monthly or twice a month basis. She usually makes new friends pretty easily and its FUN to watch her interact with the kids that kind of get left out and make them feel special =)

March 17th: St. Pattys Day is usually pretty BIG in our house. Not as big this year, but we still managed to have us some good green FUN. We got dressed up, had salad for lunch with green apples and green gatorade. Then we went and played at the park and also got to do some art projects as well. All in All it was a good day.

March 13th: Lexi had been putting off doing one of her science experiments that had to do with baking so that daddy could partake in the goodness while he was home from out of town. During her rock and minerals unit they had her bake chocolate chip cookies to represent the adding of ingredients (minerals) to make rocks and then adding heat and pressure to get the final product. They were UBER yummy!

Bowling at Amazing Jakes.... One of our favorite things to do. Brandon had been out of town for 2 weeks and since he was only home for the weekend we made the best of it and made lots of FUN family memories. Sean wiped the floor with us and for the first time Daddy actually lost, he was SO sad. But he got over it quick!

February 26th:
Lexi and her cheer squad were in the Lost Dutchman Days Parade in Apache Junction, They were SO adorable and did such a good job! Grandma and Grandpa were able to come out and watch (with Uncle Michael) and take some pictures for us since mommy was marching as well.

Also: That evening we took the kids to see James since he was in town and catch up with their sisters as well.

Thanks SO much for catching up with us. Sorry its been SO long. I will try to do better. Its a busy busy time for US! Love you ALL!!! <3<3<3 XOXOXOX

Playing Catch Up!!!!

2011-02-17T13:12:00.001-08:00

Alright I know, I failed..... Been too LONG since I last posted.
So here is the catch up. Not much has happened since I last posted. The kids returned back to school, We had to bury our hamster Summer, They have had a birthday party, Lexi and her Cheer Squad performed at Londons Run in Queen Creek and also at the Muffins with Mom event at school.....
We have had Valentines Day, but it was pretty uneventful quiet time.
And last but not least, the biggest update of all is that starting next week Lexi will be homeschooled through an online program. Its a LONG story, alot of different reasons for this decision. This is a temporary thing, trying to get some stress and health issues under control. Working on some mental health issues, getting things squared away. Helping her feel more secure in who she is as a person and what she has to offer this world. Giving her control back over the outcome of her life. She will return to a regular school program in August. So it will be a little crazy and I am not sure I am ready for it, but she is a smart kid and I have faith that between the 2 of us we can make this work for atleast the next couple months.

So onto our other updates!!!
Pics Below....

This is a picture that my parents have had in their bathroom for YEARS!!! I always thought it was cute, but lately I have felt more and more like that poor little character.... Mornings come way too early and evenings go WAY too late.

R.I.P. Summer.....
Our poor little hamster got a tumorous growth and finally lost her battle in January.
We miss her, she was a cute little punkin that kept us entertained daily. The kids helped to decorate a box that we used to bury her in and we have her in the backyard so she is not far from us. It has made losing her a little easier. We did not have her long, but long enough that we were VERY attached.

Birthday Party....
Seans classmate had a birthday over Christmas Break, and we were invited to a party just after the break. It was cute to watch all the kids enjoy each other and see all their little personalities come out. Fun Times!

January 29th Londons Run Queen Creek, AZ.....
The girls got to go cheer on the runners from Londons Run, it was an AWESOME experience. We got to see one of the sponsered girls get out of her wheelchair and finish the last 15 feet of the race. We later found out that little girl has lost her battle and there is nothing left they can do, she has 3-6 months left. It was cute to see the girls give her a pom pom and make her part of the group. The girls got tired easy but they hung in there. It was VERY rewarding for them to have people come up to them afterwards and thank them, or for the couple that were able to get in a pic with a couple of the runners who wanted to remember them as part of the experience of the day. Fun Times!!!

The cheer leaders also perform at all the major school events. The latest one was the Muffins with Mom event February 14th! They got to eat breakfast with their moms and then show off for the crowd, they were SO cute. Lexi made the most of this event, while she will still be going to a couple outside events with the girls and the squad this was the last school event for her.

So thats the latest for us. Hope you all are having great times and great memories with your family. Enjoy them as much as you can. Loves to you ALL!!!

P.S. The BEST thing that has happened over the last week is that we got to go see Uncle Zac come home from Iraq for a visit. We got to go see him at the airport and then enjoy his company at Grandmas house on Sunday. We got to see some amazing things happen at the airport as a group of women shared their support and love of the troops and thanked him in a precious way for what he does for our country. It was great to see his humility and watch him smile. The kids enjoyed as he showed off his new sword collection to the family, that was pretty awesome. And watching him just jump right back in and be the same old precious crazy Uncle Zac that we all know and love was phenominal. The kids all still cling to him and love him more than I think he even realizes. He is the best. I wish I had pictures, I forgot to take my camera and was too absorbed in the moment to remember to take out my phone. We have missed him SO much and been SO worried about him. Love you Uncle Zac-ey <3 <3

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.....

2010-12-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

So apparently I am making a habit of posting things a week or more late....
Oh Well, Enjoy!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE:
This was a FUN evening in more ways than one. While cooking dinner I had a brilliant idea to use the mandolin to cut tomatoes (without the safety mechanism) and ended up cutting a nice chunk out of my thumb (1/2 inch long, 1/2 inch wide, 1/8-1/4 inch deep) we couldnt get the bleeding stopped so Grandma came and rescued us and took care of the kids and finished up dinner so that mommy and daddy could make an unexpected trip to the ER.
Luckily the ER wasnt busy at all and we were in and out in an hour. No stitches, but plenty of shots and wrapping and patching. It will take up to a month or more to completely heal and it is SO sore, but I will live. The hardest part is that I never realized until now how much you use your thumb for and its my right thumb, I am right handed, so it makes everyday tasks a little difficutlt. FUN TIMES!!!

So the kids had to wait for our Christmas Eve FUN until mommy and daddy got back and until mommy and daddy had a chance to eat. They were very good about it. I think (lucky for me) they were more worried about mommy than about presents. They were a little traumatized... Mommy was in shick and screamed alot (some not so nice words) while trying to get cleaned up and patched up so that we could get out of there and to the hospital. I dont think they realized what exactly was going on, but they knew it wasnt good. Sean thought I had cut my whole thumb off and was worried that the doctor wouldnt be able to put it back on, we had to explain it wasnt that bad, but that I did need to see a doctor and then I would be back to continue our FUN! Poor kiddos.

ON TO THE FUN!!!

Jammie Time:
Christmas Eve has always been a night full of traditions for us. One of those being that we always get new jammies to sleep in. This year it was just the kids that got jammies. They couldnt wait to see what kind.....

They were a hit....
The boy got How to Train Your Dragon jammies, he was a Night Fury, the jammies have built in wings, he thought that was AWESOME....
and the girl got princesses, she loves princesses.

The it was time to get showered and dressed and move onto the movie. A tradition carried on from my family....
We watch Small One every Christmas Eve, its an old Disney cartoon about the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem, its really cute and the kids LOVE it.

OFF TO BED!!!!
Gotta get some sleep for the BIG day!

CHRISTMAS MORNING;

This year we tried to instill in the kids that Christmas was NOT going to be a BIG Christmas for many reasons. But that it was OK, even though they are used to a BIG Christmas, Its about more than what we get in presents.
Dont get me wrong, We have always talked about the meaning of Christmas and the kids know what we are celebrating. But I think this year was the first year that they really got it. Even Sean. But it was also the year of a thousand questions about the symbolisms for Christmas. Sean is having a hard time grasping, if its Christs birthday we celebrate why do WE get presents? That was a hard one to explain to an Aspie. He is so literal that symbollisms usually go right over his head. So explaining it was tough. We tried to explain that it was about giving not getting. We used the gifts from the wisemen as an example, and Heavenly Father giving us the gift of his son, and so on and so forth. I think by the end he was still a little confused but understood more than he had.
This was the first year that he didnt end the morning with "is that it?" The kids were content. And that is a good thing in my book.

Despite this day (and this year) being more about the time we spend with our loved ones, we always seem to end up with nothing but pictures of the presents. I think its because we get so wrapped up in the family time that we skip the taking pictures to capture those precious moments.
So I apologize that presents will overwhelm this blog.
But then again, even though they are not the meaning of Christmas or the sole purpose of Christmas, they still play an important role : )
So here it goes.....

The tree with ALL the goodies:

Lexi was the first one awake, she was up at 5am. She had to wake Sean up at 5:30am because she got tired of waiting....
That is unusual, its usually the other way around.

Then after potty trips, and stretching and yawning it was time to open presents....

The "Santa" Gift:
Yes, the kids still believe in Santa. But in our house "Santa" only brings one present a year. This was the presents for this year....
Straight off their list....

Sean wanted action figures, we decided to take it to the next level and start a new collection from his favorite movie at the moment. So he got Hiccup and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.
For Lexi its still all about babies, she loved babies... real or pretend. She loved that this one came with all the accessories to care for it too. Its FUN to watch her be a little mommy. She is SO good at it, shes a natural.

The Much Anticipated Gift:
This was the one thing they both got that wasnt on their list, but that they have been asking for since they grew out of their smaller ones a few months back. They were SO excited when they saw them and I am sure they will get much use over the next couple years : )

New Scooters..... Red for the girl and blue for the boy. We have to stay color coded here so there is no confusion as to whos is whos.

The Electronic Gift:
The kids both asked for different electronic items this year, it was cute to see how excited they both got. I dont think they thought they were going to get them....

For Lexi she has really gotten into pictures and scrapbook and has decided she wants to try her hand at photography. So we got her a cheap digital kid friendly camera to start off on and get the feel of it.
And for Sean it was all about the MP3 player. Ever since Lex got one for her birthday he has been wanting one. He nabs hers alot, and while she is nice enough to share, its nice that they dont have to anymore. We somehow got side tracked on that for his birthday, but made up for it at Christmas. He was excited that all his favorite songs were loaded on it all ready and he could listen to it straight out of the package : ) It made for a great distracter most of the day. When he gets overwhelmed with things just being too much he looks for a way to kind of tune out the world around him. This was a good outlet. He took it with us all day so he could plug into it when he needed to.

Family Gift:
So its no secret that we have a family full of gamers in this house, some more than others. So I decided, that being the case, we needed some new kid friendly games to play together on the Wii....
So I got Shrek the Third and Wii Play for the family, the kids seemed to be excited and cant wait to try them out.

Mommys Turn:
I like to think that I am an easy one to shop for, but this is usually a struggle for Brandon. This year he did good. All on his own too.

I got a new George Foreman family size grill, which I have been hinting about for 2 years now since my little one broke. And Eclipse. YAY!!!
Good Job hunny, I LOVE them.

Daddys Turn:
Daddy is a hard one to shop for on a budget, he has expensive tastes. But the only thing he specifically asked for this year was a shirt. So that was an easy order to fill. But we couldnt just stop there.....

Daddy got a new Wii game, Speed Racer with the wheel of course. And a new outfit, shirt and pants. He seemed to like it. It was the first game played on the Wii that morning.

Stocking Time:
Usually they want to attack those first, but for some reason they were the last things to be opened this year. Its all good.
They were the icing on the cake.

Lexi got a bragbook filled with pics of her and her BFFL (she just moved to Florida, and Lex misses her alot, so this was something that she really enjoyed. A way to relive their happy memories), some scrapbooking stickers, and some bandits (I think thats what they are called, the new fad in silicone funny shaped braclets).
Sean got a new mini bumblebee transformer, a transformer blendits coloring book, and his own set of bandits (boy shapes of course)
All of this along with the usual fruit and treats.

Play Time:
Can you tell what the favorite presents of the morning were?
They LOVED All their presents, but these were the ones that had to come out first.

Even though it was still dark out, and freezing cold, the kids insisted on trying out their scooters as soon as we had them assembled. It was short lived but still cute.

After our family festivities, and getting to enjoy our fun gifts, we headed to Miles and Tiffanys house to meet up with Brandons family for breakfast and gift exchange.
YUMMY! Breakfast burritos, and baby fixes...
I LOVE getting to spend all the time with the neices and nephews and get in all my cuddles. They are ALL getting SO big! I havent seen them all for awhile and yet all the little ones seem to find their way into Aunt Jennies arms at some point. Some more short lived than others, but always FUN!
Brandons mom gave all the grandkids a personalized folder full of childrens stories that she has written, it was really cute and they have had loads of FUN reading them. We got our family games, which is ALWAYS fun. And Miles and Tiff got all the families a tin of popcorn and a certificate from restaraunts.com, we cant wait to use it.

(I forgot to take my camera into their house, so I missed out on getting family pics taken, these pics were taken after we got home)

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa B's house for lunch and FUN TIMES with the fam.....
Grandpa did good at the present picking this year (correction, he is always good at the present picking, but this year he was extra good at it ; ) ) The kids LOVED their presents.
Sean got a supersize Bakugan, he was in seventh heaven.
And Lex got a new part to her ZhuZhu pet world and a new ZhuZhu pet (pink, her fav color)
And I am very excited to read the first edition (still in need of edits and additions) of my dads life story.

Someone who will remain nameless (LOL... I am sure you can guess who) stole my camera and I ended up with some very funny and yet very disturbing pictures on my camera later... Gotta love my family ; )

Since we were ALL together at the same time and that doesnt seem to happen very often, there is always someone missing, Debi suggested we take a family pic, and it was a great idea.
(It was an excuse for her to use her new camera too)
We are all in our pj's or comfy clothes, not dressed up at all. But it was a great family pic of the WHOLE crew. Thanks Deb!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Grandpa cooked up a delicious lunch and then we hung out and played games and just enjoyed each others company for most of the afternoon and early evening....

The kids had daddy go home and get their scooters so they could go to the park by Grandma and Grandpa B's house and ride them...
They are too cute, I love these guys!

We ended the Christmas evening back at Brandons moms house for games, Unfortunately it was short lived. The little miss had too much excitement for one day and was getting a headache so we had to call it an early night. But we did enjoy the time that we did have with them, and the food that Grandma sent home with us (both of them) yummy! I finally got to see the 2 newest additions to the Doucet Clan, they are both such cuties. And got my baby fix for the day ; )
All in All, it was a FUN TIME!!

The After Effects:
Thanks to a generous and unexpected Christmas present from Brandons boss and the gift card we received from Grandison and Jill at our gift exchange (and the kids pitching in a small portion their Christmas cash) we were able to get an additional family present.

The kids have missed playing Wii Fit games since we gave it back to Grandma and Grandpa and we have been wanting to get our own for awhile, Now we were finally able to.
And they were SO excited! So were mommy and daddy, now if I can just get my thumb to heal so that I can be a little more intense in my activity that will be the icing on the cake : )

Grandma Diane sent the kids a gift card and they were SO happy to be able to go pick out their own presents with it.....

(Of course for Sean it was Bakugan, that is the new obsession. And Lexi is really into arts and crafts so for her it was art supplies)

(Grandma wasnt here to thank in person so the kids drew her pictures and sent them to her through Facebook, it was too cute)

I am sure I am missing pictures of something or missing thanking someone for something (ie: Brandons Grandparents on both sides sent us money for Christmas)just know that if you had a part in our Christmas at all we really love and appreciate ALL that you do for us. Thanks to everyone involved for making this a GREAT holiday.
Loves to ALL our Family and Friends.....
AND.....
Its time to say good-bye to 2010 and.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Pics from week of School before break....

2010-12-28T03:17:00.000-08:00

I am SO slacking, I just realized I forgot to post the couple cute pics I took with the last blog, So here it goes.....
Enjoy!!!

Seans class had their party on Thursday because they were doing a performance on Friday and didnt want to pack too much in on one day.... They did a pizza party with Root Beer floats too and a gift exchange.....

(Presents: His friend got him an Ironman bubble set for the gift exchange and Miss Tonee gave all the boys balloon rockets for Christmas, it was a HIT with the class)

(The boys playing, they had SO much FUN with those things, it was fun to watch them just chuckle everytime someone would blow one up and set it off)

Then it was time to practice for their performance the next day.....

(Teachers: Mrs. Swart (the print top) is Seans classroom teacher, Mrs. Dennis (the striped top) is their music teacher, and Miss Lisa (used to be one of Seans favorite classroom aides, but she teaches the other younger class now))

Friday!!!
We started off the day with Lexi performing for cheer, she was such a cutie in her new uniform, they still have to get Lions printed on the front of them all, but after fitting them for them earlier in the week the girls ALL decided that they HAD to wear them on Friday.... I was glad they did, they looked AWESOME!!!

It was also a very bitter sweet day for us, while the performances were GREAT and the kids did AWESOME... We had to say good-bye to two people on Friday that we will miss dearly....
The first one was the kids new principle Mrs. Smithson, it was her last day, she was AWESOME and we LOVED her. We are wishing her the best of luck in her new endeavors......

Then it was time for Seans performance....
(See the videos in the previous blog)

(waiting patiently for things to get started)

(Lexi got to come watch the performance, she was SO proud of her brother : ) )

After performances and After school (early release), we rushed off to drop of sissy with daddy and go to our second good-bye for the day....
It was Seans LAST therapy appointment with his behavioral therapist. Another one of those VERY bittersweet moments.
Last appointment is a good thing in this case, it means that he has made enough progress in learning how to deal with his anger and how to express himself better that we dont need therapy anymore (atleast not at the moment). It also means that we as a family have more tools to deal with his "outbursts" and "meltdowns" besides losing it and dont need weekly or monthly check-ups with her as well.
But she has been such a BIG part of our lives this last year that it is HARD to say good-bye. She has helped us make such AMAZING progress with him that when she asked if I was ok with closing out his therapy I almost wanted to scream "NO I CANT DO IT WITOUT YOU!!!" But I know thats not true. While we still have our struggles with him, daily, they are MUCH better than they used to be. And with his Aspergers, we know they are nothing that will go away completely. We also know that she is just a phone call and referral request away if any new issues were to come up, so that is a relief to know.

So we reluctantly say good-bye to our dear friend and therapist Laura : (

She brought Sean a completion certificate and a box of chocolate cupcakes for their last appointment. She really didnt have anything planned (which is unusual, but expected since it was their good-bye day) and so she talked to Sean a little about how good he has been doing, and about how he feels about no more therapy. He likes going to see Laura, but lately has been HATING having to "talk" so much because its seems to always be the same subject to him. Learning to communicate better. He went back and forth about whether he was ok with it, but settled on it was ok. Then asked about his surprise she had promised him. Once he got his certificate and the cupcakes, he was done for the day. She would have read a story or played a game, but he shut down and plugged into his sisters MP3 player that he had brought in with him (I think whether he would admit it or not it was an emotional moment for him and that was his way of dealing with it. Earlier in the appointment when she started trying to talk about it being their last visit and how that made him feel he crawled under his chair with his head facing the wall and refused to come out until we told him he would lose his "surprise" then he came out but didnt want to talk about it. Poor punkin, its hard when he doesnt always know how to tell you what he is thinking and feeling, it was obviously VERY overwhelming for him at that moment though). So we cut the appointment short, gave our hugs, said our good-byes and left.

So All in All it was a good day with some sad moments in the middle. Now off to Christmas and some break time : )

December 17th... Last Day of School Performances

2010-12-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

I know this is a little late....
Oh well!!
So the last Friday of school the kids both had performances and I was able to be there and record them.
For Lex it was cheers first performance in their uniforms....
For Sean it was his programs performance for thier parents....
Both were equally as cute!

Lexi and cheer!

Seans program consisted of 6 songs....
I divided them up into seperate videos.....

The first song done was more of a dance, get them up and moving and get their wiggles out.... It was cute....

The next song sang was about the Titanic. There is a child in Seans class that LOVES the Titanic so their music teacher taught them a song she learned as a child. It was adorable.

Next was Jingle Bells with their kazoos.

Then it was one of my favorites, Must be Santa.

Then they did the Chritstmas version of the Chicken Dance.... They call it the reindeer dance!

And they ended the program with We wish you a Merry Christmas!

They did a really great job, I was pleasantly surprised. A BIG Thanks to all the helpers and teachers that made the day possible. It was magnificient.
Merry Christmas ALL!!!

Lexi at Winter Performance....

2010-12-05T13:54:00.000-08:00

Seans class isnt performing until the 17th, there will be a video of him later....
But Lexi was in the performance.
I am only posting one video because the other one makes you a little sea sick...
The music one, Its a little shaky....
This is of the Musical Theatre performance!
They did "Here on Whoville" from Seussical the Musical
It is quite cute, but a little out of focus, sorry!
She is the second one on the left, front row.....
She eventually moves to be center stage.
She is the one in the red sweater dress with the red scarf and red tights.
ENJOY!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Lexi Cheer Videos.....

2010-12-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

I didnt post the video of Lexi doing cheer at the Fall Festival....
But since we have a new one from Winter Program I decided to post them both.
Sorry but the quality of the most recent one is yicky.....
Daddy had trouble focusing the camera. But you get the gist....
She has become a flyer now and she is VERY excited about it. We are SO proud of our little cheer leader. She was even given the spirit stick this last week for overcoming ALL that she has and still having her can do attitude and never giving up, even when she was in pain. She is a trooper. I am SO PROUD of her.

Fall Fest.... Our little one armed cheer leader....

Winter Performance.....
She is the second one from the left in the front row and will move to be the top of the right pyramid in the end....
Sorry its SO fuzzy!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!
There will be more to come as the year goes on.....
Loves to you ALL and Happy Holidays!!!

Our Newest Little Student of the Month....

2010-12-04T15:44:00.001-08:00

Sean got Student of the Month in his class yesterday. He was SO excited. This is the first year that he has gotten it. It was a very sweet moment. In his program they get recognized in their classroom and for the first time they brought R.O.A.R. (the school mascot) and StuCo (Student Council) to help as well. It was great to see his little smile and hear everyone congratulate him.

And in his therapy appointment that afternoon we also found out that Sean has made enough progress in his behavior and "meltdowns" that he will be closed out of therapy the end of this month. It is bitter sweet. It means he has made great strides in understanding how to deal with his frustrations in a more appropriate manner and how to verbalize his feelings.... BUT.....
It also means no more Laura. She has been such a wonderful part of our lives this last year, it will be hard to let her go. But we are excited to be moving on ward and upward. Onto bigger and better things.

Christmas So Far.....

2010-11-29T17:51:00.001-08:00

Time to get festive....
(November 26th)

Building the tree....

Time to Decorate.....

Anyone want a Kiss??? (Mistletoe in the doorway)

Decorating the outside of the house.....

Playing in the snow while visiting Daddy (James) in Flagstaff...
(November 27th)

Stay tuned for more this season....

BFFL day at the Zoo (November 14th)....

2010-11-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Lexis BFFL (Best Friend For Life, Times a Million) J and her family moved this month and we tried to get the girls together for one last hoorah before they left. They had a blast just wandering around the zoo, talking and being silly. It was a GREAT day, and a GREAT send off. We are gonna miss them.

Waiting for our friends....

We let the girls decide what route we would take and what we were doing,
They decided to take a hike first off, it was a route I had never taken but was kind of cool....

Dancing:
The girls found and empty theatre and couldnt help but show off....
I love them... they crack me up!

The first true POSE of the day.....

Stopping for a Churro snack.....

Watching the monkeys....

Posing in the cement kangaroo statue and pouch....

We stopped to take a break and see the kangaroos, and of course it only got close so it could go pee.... LOL.... We had to pose just right so you wouldnt see it in the shot : )

The girls found the animal statues and decided it was time for a photo session : )
They are too cute....

The Pretty Little Princesses or should I say Pearls:

The turtles decided it was time to mate while we were there.... typical : )
We thought it was hilarious. We decided to leave as soon as we heard the kids say "Whats that noise?" That was after them asking "Why is that BIG turtle climbing on that BIG rock?" LOL Too Cute. We decided it wasnt the place or time for a birds and the bees talk with the 5 year old.... LOL

Lunch Time:
Enjoying a late lunch with the crew....
Caesar Salad for my little punkin and nachos for the rest. Except me, I had a BLT.... They gave me a pound of bacon on that thing, it was NUTS!!!

Saying their Good-byes!!!
After shopping for goodies at the gift shop, we stopped to look at the fishies and say our good-byes.....
These little cuties are certainly going to miss each other....

Fall Festival (November 6th).....

2010-11-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

Fall Fest this year was FUN!! IT was the first year in awhile that I actually got to wander and join in on the FUN!
I did get to help with the cheer booth for the first hour or SO (I was glad other parents showed up to help because it was HOT and I was getting nice and crispy, But I was glad I was able to be there to help none the less)
For those of you who didnt know or hadnt seen pics. Lexi fell and hurt her elbow on Seans birthday (The day before fall fest) and they thought she might have fractured her growth plate, so she was in a splint for Fall Fest. Sadly it was also performance day for Cheer.... But she was able to still do it one handed. It was cuter than cute. And her friends all were very sympathetic of her injury. She was sad because she couldnt play much at Fall Fest (No Bounce House for her) but she survived.
The kids (all but Pieceful Solutions... LONG STORY!!) performed a couple patriotic songs as well. They were also VERY cute. Enjoy the pics.

(Just getting there, finding friends and ready for FUN)

(Pieceful Solutions Fishing Game, Sean was excited to show daddy, the let the kids help paint it in class, he showed daddy the blue water he helped paint : )

(The boy in the bounce house.... he did bounce alot, but it wasnt the same without his sissy.... and he was waiting for his friends to show up too)

(Yes you do see teary eyes on the boy, even with a snowcone, he had dropped his first one and was VERY sad because he had just gotten it and hadnt even had a chance to eat it yet.... The lady at the snow cone stand took pity on the poor teary face and gave him the second one free even though we were willing to pay for it. It took a little bit but he did finally cheer up)

(Grades K-8 Performing Grand Old Flag and God Bless the USA)

(My little one armed cheer leader : 0 )

(The face paint, Lexi wanted a Skull and Sean is ALL BOY he needed a Car)

(Lex and her friends, almost time to take off it was wrapping up, FUN day)

Sorry there wasnt more pics, I was just enjoying the laid back moments of the day. Kids just wandered and had FUN just enjoying the time with friends. Good times, Great memories.

Seans Bday (November 5th)....

2010-11-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

We started off Seans Bday opening presents first thing in the morning....
(Daddy had to work late and we wanted to be able to have a family moment together, Sean got exactly what he asked for Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon and Bakugans)

Watching "How to Train your Dragon" Before School:
(We made a special breakfast, eggs and pancakes with bacon and sausage)

A day they will never forget:
Lexi fell at recess on Seans Bday and broke her elbow (Severe Sprange turned into a hairline fracture in her growth plate).
Poor little punkin : ( But she was a trooper and still made sure Sean enjoyed his day!

Birthday Cake:

(Apparently blowing out two little candles is hardwork, so he pretended to pass out! I should have put all 10 on : ) )

Visit with Aunt Channi and Aaron:
(November 7th)

Party Day (November 13th):
Time to Decorate....
(Thanks Aunt Debi for ALL your help, you are the BEST)

Friends (and Family) Arriving:
Ready to Party....

Play Time....
(We made homemade lightsabers for the kiddos)

The Party Crew:

Sean wanted his favorite dessert "Cup of Dirt" for his party, so we made it into a tray of dirt....

BEFORE:

AFTER:
(We had bugs and worms buried in the pudding and had it topped with caterpillars, it was FUN to watch them try to dig through and find all the goodies and gobble them ALL up!)

Present Time....
(Star Wars and Bakugan, and Candy too!!)

More Playing...
(They opted to play inside for a little while with the Wii and the Clay)

The kids had a blast. Thanks to ALL who were involved in making this a special time for the Special Boy!!!

Such a Slacker.....

2010-11-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I am SO bad at this these days, I dont know if its just because I have been busy or if I just dont think about it much anymore.... But I keep forgetting that I need to post pics and stories and share our lives with those who might not have Facebook and dont see it ALL the time... LOL

Soooooo......
Its been a long month or so since I posted last.
This post will kind of be a compilation of things, then you have to see the post from Seans bday, Fall Fest and from Lexis BFF Zoo Trip....

K SO, Lexi had to do a book report this last month for class, she had a month to prepare. She had to write a report, Do an oral 3-5 minute presentation and creat a visual aide as well. She was VERY excited. Mommy helped her with her poster, but for the most part she did it all on her own. She got an A on her presentation and an A+ on her poster.... The class voted her poster most creative. I felt So bad for her, she came down with a VERY bad head cold and was losing her voice on the day of presentations. I was going to keep her home because she was SO sick, but she didnt want to miss her time, so she sucked it up and went long enough to do her presentation and then went home and crashed.... Poor little punkin. So here is a picture of her with her poster.....

Halloween this year was a hard one, they changed their minds a million times, finally about 3 days before Halloween we settled on Anakin Skywalker and Cleopatra... It was a FUN time....
They loved getting dressed up, and really enjoyed going to a party with some great friends the day before....
I will say, Seans mask was the creepiest thing ever. Because the feature look so real and the color of the mask matched his skin tone pretty well. You could hear him talking clear as day but the mouth didnt move and you could see his eyes move and be expressive but the rest of his face was still. I wanted to rip it off half the time and he still plays with it ALOT because he knows it creeps me out and he laughs at my reaction. Mommy is SILLY I guess.

(The BFFL's)

At some point this last month was Crazy Hair day, dont even ask me what day it was... They are all blending together these days... LOL!
But for the first time I let the kids go ALL out, they decided they wanted colors this year.

For Sean it was all about his favorite colors, he wanted Green and Blue seperated by white.... He also wanted it spiked. I dont think he realized how much it was going to bother him the itchy feeling from all the product in his hair. he made it to school to show it off and then started complaining it was too itchy. I almost thought we were going to have to take him home and hose him down in the middle of the day, but he stuck it out. It was washed as soon as we got home though : )

For Lexi it was all about school spirit. She is a cheer leader and they were performing that day. She wanted to be school colors. So she did messy pigtails, one was white and one was purple and then the rest of her hair was gold glitter.

They looked SO cute and loved the reactions they got.

Anyway, well that is a quick update. We really havent had much time to breathe this last couple months. Between Brandon traveling, moving to the new house, still selling the old house, school, family, Halloween, Sean Birthday, Best Friends moving, Playdates and everything else we have been a hopping.... Its all been good though!
Hope you ALL are having equally as much FUN!! Love ya <3

State Fair...

2010-10-18T11:39:00.001-07:00

We went to the State Fair friday afternoon....
It was a GREAT time with GREAT friends....

Share in our memories, we didnt go on any rides but still enjoyed the exhibits and the food and a little play time : )

The kids inside the gate, heading to the art exhibits....

BREAK TIME!!!
Took some time out for a sweet treat.

The girls had to get the same thing, it was cute to watch them try to decide what they wanted to get,
settled on frozen bananas with nuts.....

Sean was adament that he get "chocolate" donuts, the best we could do was powder sugar donuts with chocolate sauce, he was alright with that....

And the little one needed a snowcone (which the big girls finished for her) it was a warm day.....

The kids enjoyed the playground.....

The BFF's were happy to get to spend the day together.... There was an awful lot of wispering and giggling going on....

The kids found the toddler zone and stopped to play a little golf, and go through the hay maze on our way through....

Petting Zoo....

(Lexi got scared by the BIG goat, she squealed and we turned around to have her say "that BIg donkey scared me...." We just chuckled....

In the petting zoo they got to see goats, lambs, llamas, kangaroos, donkeys, etc...
And they loved it, even though it was a little chaotic....

(we also saw baby chicks, bunny rabbits and the gamit of farm animals in the live animal exhibit)

Stopping for a pic moment....

The Dino Exhibit was AWESOME!!!
They had moving statues of the dinos....

They got to be archeologists and dig up fossils....

They also got to ride on the worlds slowest motorized dino, they still had fun....

Late lunch time (or early dinner)
The kids wanted corndogs....

It was cute, there was a ride close to where we stopped, they were watching the people go up a good 20 feet or more and drop...
The looks on their faces is priceless.... They were mesmorized....

On our way out, This was the sand sculpture... It was pretty cool....

We had a great time and the kids are still talking about it....
Those are the days that GREAT lasting memories are made from.
Thanks for sharing them with us.
<3 And thanks to Ang and the girls for inviting us on your adventure for the day <3
Love ya guys : )

The Little Man....

2010-10-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well....
I love my little man, but he has been an absolute struggle lately. He doesnt deal well with change and there has certainly been alot of that lately. Between the move, and Brandon being gone, and a new school situation, and mommy being on burn out, having the house on the market, Lexis party, a new ward at church, and the list goes on.....
Things have definately taken there tole on him and he is fighting back.

I try to keep reminding myself that he doesnt always have control over it and I need to be more patient, but this mommas patience is wearing thin. And then I feel guilty when I dont react in a very nice manner. When his tears come out and I hear "why are you yelling at me" and its obvious that he has no idea what he has done to make me upset, I feel like such a bad mom. I know thats not the case. I am a GREAT mom, or so I have been told. And I know that I have had alot more patience with him than I ever thought I was capable of. But man, oh man, I dont know how much more of this I can take.....

and then I remember the struggles with him when he was little,
and yet how precious he was.....

I remember all the bad days that I have made it through,
and the good days that were our reward for that......

Despite the struggles and heartache that sometimes come with this job,
he is my precious little gift, and I am SO glad to be his mom.

My friend posted this song on her facebook page and I just totally tear up listening to it. Its my little man to a T. Its a song written to try to explain what its like to be a person with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). I have been listening to it over and over for the last day or so and its helping me remember that he is not perfect, he doesnt see things the way we do, he doesnt hear things the way we do, he doesnt do things the way we do.... But he is special in his own right and his future is bright! And its my job to PATIENTLY guide him through! So I will pick my self up and dust myself off and we will continue on this journey the best we can : )

Hope you enjoyed the video! Talk to you ALL soon!

My little princess (and my cute little man too)...

2010-09-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

So.....
Some of you probably saw this on my facebook already, but for those of you who didnt.

We have been having some interesting conversations with our daughter this last couple months. Most of them have centered around people at school making fun of other kids for how they look.
The kids are in 4th grade now and I know its only gonna get worse. But we try to make sure that we tell her all the time that she is perfect the way she is and that it doesnt matter what other people say if she is happy thats all that matters.....

So she came home a couple weeks ago and was talking about how she has a friend that is constantly telling her that she is too skinny and she needs to eat more....
Then one day another classmate overheard her and said that Lex wasnt skinny because she had a bubble butt. She said it upset her because she doesnt think she is too skinny or too fat, she thinks she is just right. I told her she was absolutely right.

She has been struggling with how to tell them how she feels or whether to just let them believe what they want to because it doesnt matter what they think.

So anyway,
I was in the car today listening to music on the way to school and I heard a song that we have heard a thousand times before, its one of our favorites but it finally clicked. I would have never thought to link it before because its a guy singing to his girl..... but the chorus is perfect for her. So I started singing it to her and put my hand on her knee and looked into her precious face and she just started grinning ear to ear and at the end she looked at me and said "I know mom"

So I just had to share for anyone else going through the same thing....
You're not alone!

So I put the song on the blog, its our new profile song......
And I am adding the chorus lyrics to some pics of my kiddos....
Enjoy!!!

Just the Way You Are
by: Bruno Mars

When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change
Because you're amazing, just the way you are.....

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while
Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are.....

She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day
Oh, you know, you know, you know, I'd never ask you to change
If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same......
Your Amazing.... Just the way you are.....

----------------------------------------------------------------

So I hope that someone out there got something from this and not just me.
These kids are growing up TOO FAST, I wish it would just slow down.
Let them be kids for awhile before they worry about looks and weight.
Remind your kids that they are precious and special and gorgeous EVERYDAY!
Its amazing how much those little words mean to a little one.
Hope you ALL have a great rest of your week.
AND Enjoy your little ones while they are still little!

P.S My sister Debi suggested another song as well, and its good too....

Lexis Party.....

2010-09-14T21:39:00.001-07:00

Better late than never.....
Lexi had her party on Saturday, the girls had a blast. Sean even enjoyed it.
It was a Hannah themed party....
But not just Hannah.....
More music and FUN themed!!!

Lexi didnt have cake, she had Zepolis (I think thats how it spelled) an Italian Doughnut from Olive Garden with honey (and chocolate) dipping sauce, its her favorite. She somehow lost the chocolate gene from our family and she is not a huge cake fan. So she was in seventh heaven with those.

The kids waited patiently, but were very eager to get started:

We started off by decorating their own personalized "Star Power" guitar posters....

Then it was time to decorate cookies. Without any egging them on it was apparent that they were trying to see who could make theirs the biggest, instead of the prettiest.....
Luckily they were smart enough to only take a bite or two with the tons of icing and then they scooped it off.
No sick kids, Amazingly.....

Then it was time for presents.....
Lexi has some of the best friends (and family), she made out like a bandit and it was all right down her alley.
But it was her BFFL that really hit it on the mark. She got her a scrapbooking kit, Lexi LOVES to help me organize pictures, use stickers, group things and decoarate pages. She is totally her mothers daughter. When she opened it she looked at her and said "No way, you are the BEST..." J was ALL smiles. I told Lex that J's mom told me that J said "If I will like it so will Lex" and Lexi said, yep thats right. I told them they were "two peas in a pod, twins seperated at birth..." They just laughed. I think they thought I lost my mind.

The it was time for the candle and her wish....
Still dont know what she wished for, Shhhhh its a secret!

Then we ended the day with singing to Hannah and to High School Musical....
They danced around and had a blast,
You can tell that there were some that were ok with the limelight and others that would rather stay on the sidelines.
Either way they all had FUN!
Check out the pic of all the girls at the end, the smiles say it all (We missed J and R in the pic, I wasnt thinking about a group shot until it was too late, sry gals, it was good times though)

Hope you ALL enjoy the pics as much as we enjoyed the day.
Keep Checking back for an update on the girl as well as pics of the new house coming soon!

The Tiles.....

2010-09-08T22:01:00.001-07:00

The finished products from As You Wish, Too Cute....
Gotta love creativity : )

Picture Catch Up....

2010-09-07T18:27:00.001-07:00

Ok SO since we are going to have a million pics to share in the upcoming posts of the birthday party, the move, halloween, Seans birthday and the first cheer event....
I decided that I should go ahead and load the pics from the last week already :)

So Starting off with Lexis Birthday (September 2nd)

The Birthday Girl, Ready for School....

Present Time....
She got Littlest Pet Shop, and Baby Stuff, just what she asked for....

Then there is Lexis First Ballet Class (September 4th), afterwards we went to Grandmas to hang with the cousins and it was time for a photo-op....

Then on Sunday (September 5th) we got to go to As You Wish and paint some tiles for a friends Birthday Party,
It was a BLAST!!!....

Then it was Lexis first sick day this year, we finally had time to load her songs on her MP3 player from Grandma and Grandpa and she got to enjoy it while she had to run a couple errands with mommy. It distracted her from how icky she was feeling, poor punkin.... Mommy passed on her cold.
She was feeling much better by the end of the night.

Thanks to EVERYONE who helped to make this week special, and a shout out to the few pics we didnt get....
Thanks to Grandma Doucet for the LPS fishies, she LOVES them!
Great addition to her collection, they will make for hours of FUN play!!!....
And thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Blaylock for the MP3 Player and the Books, she hasnt put them down since we got home with them.
Every free moment is reading them. She is already on Chapter 6 of one and 4 of the other....
Perfect Presents!!

Late Posts.....

2010-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

So I have decided I am a schmuck. I didnt get a post up on Lexis birthday.... So here it is, Happy 9th Birthday to our little princess (3 days late). I will post pictures after her party on the 11th.

Its been a crazy couple weeks, Brandon is still traveling non stop and I have been packing and moving on top of being mom, and doc appts and homework and selling our house.... Crazy Times. I promise to be better about posting when things settle down. We move soon and then things hopefully wont be as nuts for me anyway, or maybe they will. Thats when the Bookfair starts.... Gotta love my life. Busy but good.

So I guess now that I have ranted a little about it all....
Updates:
Lexi just turned 9, we had a little family party just me and the kids on Friday and she will have her friend party (Hannah Montana Bash) on Saturday the 11th.
We just got to go paint tiles for the first time, the kids had a blast at their friends bday party at As You Wish. Cant wait to see what they look like after they are fired.
Lexi started dance class on the 4th and is LOVING it.
Lexi also made the Cheer Squad (one of only 15 girls that made it), we are SO proud of her. She worked really hard on memorizing the cheers and getting better at the jumps for her tryouts. She found out on her birthday that she made it and said that was the best birthday present she could have ever asked for.
Sean has been loving his new class and is making some great new friends. Its FUN to see him light up when he goes to school and be excited about telling me all about his day when he comes home. We havent had that for awhile, so its great to see him loving something again.
We put our house up for Short Sale 2 weeks ago and are in the process of moving. Its been good to have extra time to move stuff so that we are more settled once we are officially there. I have spent the last week moving boxes over and unpacking as much as possible so that we are ready to go when they move the BIG stuff over on the 18th.
Brandon has been out of town for the last week and we have 2 more weeks without him. He comes home just in time to help us move and then he is on the road again. We miss him TERRIBLY and cant wait til the traveling slows down, but we are SO grateful that he is atleast employed at the moment. With the economy the way it is that is a blessing. And we appreciate how hard he works for us. We love you honey, be safe and hurry home to us.
Other than that nothing much else is going on.

Hope you ALL are having a GREAT time enjoying your families and we will update more soon.

Enjoying Family Time....

2010-08-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

Last Night we got to go to Amazing Jakes and celebrate with the Blaylock clan. After chowing down on the buffet and sugaring up on chocolate cake the kids enjoyed getting to do some firsts and I enjoyed getting to watch. Unfortunately my camera phone wouldnt take pictures of it because it was too dark, maybe we can hijack some from Grandma later : ).

They got to play Lazer Tag with Debi, Daniel, Connor and Rachel (Sean creamed them all by 1000pts), they got to do bumper cars and had a blast, they got to ride the train and the carousel. They rode the spinning cups and the frog hopper, played air hockey.... and played several other games as well, and came home with the best goodie bag ever : )....
It was a GREAT night and we loved every minute of it.

Happy 19th Birthday Michael!!!!

The cousins enjoying some time together.....

The Fam hanging out, eating a bunch and partying down at Amazing Jakes....

(Check Back for More Pics Later)

Thanks Grandpa we had a BLAST!!!!

Meeting Peter......

2010-08-22T07:16:00.001-07:00

We got to take a trip up to flagstaff to see cousin Peter (PJ) for the first time. He is such a cutie and the kids just ate him up. It was so fun to see them go gaga over him.

Playtime with PJ.....

Trina and PJ:

We had some other visitors as well, Daddy (James) was there and Grandma Diane came down with Trina and PJ; and then Gamma Roni, Chan Chan, Lori and Osias came up to visit. The kids hadnt seen Lori since she was 3, and we had never met her little brother. It was fun to get to see the kids enjoy playing with each other again.

Peter is the cutest little man, we really enjoyed getting to see him and play with him. Cant wait til we see him again. Love ya PJ <3

It was a great visit, very good to get to see everyone again. Hope to do it again soon. Love ya guys <3

P.S.
We are asking that everyone keep the kids Dad (James) in your prayers. He is up against some major medical stuff and we are hoping that all the upcoming tests, procedures and surgeries go according to planned. Thanks!

Last Hip Hop Dance Class.....

2010-08-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on updates, this is from August 7th

The BFF's Getting ready for their performance.....
They enjoy their weekly dance class and time together so much. Its great to see them both smile : )

(video coming soon)

Another New Addition.....

2010-07-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

No this is not a baby announcement, although we would be thrilled to be sharing news like that.....
And Nope NO puppy (yet)....

Daddy decided to jump on the rodent band wagon with the kiddos and we got a hamster.....

Meet Summer.....

She is a cutie pie, and we cant wait to be able to snuggle and cuddle with our new little friend. She is still spazzing a little and getting used to us. She is a climber and a squeaker.... The lady at Petsmart said that once she gets used to us the squeaking will stop, I think its kind of cute though :)

So since we brought the new sister home and she has her own cage (room) we got some new things for the other furry sisters and they are loving it....
They are such funny little spazzs, we love them SO much.....
Enjoy their new little pics....

Jet and Punkin (or Punkin Pie and the Jetster)

Hope you ALL have a GREAT weekend, Enjoy your family as we are enjoying having daddy home for the week, time for the honey-do list :)

Playdate today.....

2010-07-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

We got to go to our good friends house today and have a playdate. The kids were SO excited and it was good to get to have some "mom time" together too. Thanks Ang for having us over (and for the pics), we really had a blast. See you tomorrow for dance :)

(BFF's)

(The happy content little faces are getting to mommy, I see a puppy in our future, guess its time to start getting the house and yard ready :) wonder if I can hold out for another year?)

Lexis Cheer Performance....

2010-07-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

So once again I am apologizing for pic quality. I wanted to be able to record this on my camera, but it is in Texas with Daddy, So this is recorded on my blackberry. It atleast gives you the gist. She was SO excited to be able to perform. She has been taking a cheer class this summer (7 weeks) with her Aunt Tiffy. She had SO much FUN (As you can tell from the smile on her face)!!!

(Dont forget to mute the music player above before playing the videos)

This first video is of the girls doing 2 of their chants (or cheers)
Lexi is the tall one with the red shorts on. She was SO excited (yet nervous) to get to start the first chant.....

The second video is their dance, and then the last chant where they get to introduce themselves.... Sorry the clapping drowns out alot of their voices, they each said their names, favorite color and what they like to do..... Lexi was Color Red and Swimming.....
Enjoy!!!!

Hope you guys are all having a GREAT summer.....
This is the beginning of our summer wrap up and the kids are definately ready to return to school in a week and a half.... Enjoy the rest of your summer and loves to you ALL!!!!

Latest Family Pics....

2010-07-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

We had a photo shoot with Brandons family a couple weeks ago, these were the best shots.....

ENJOY!!!!

Our Happy Family Pic

The Cousins: Girls and Boys

The Family: Everyone and the Siblings

Grand Canyon Trip (Scenery)....

2010-07-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

So I was looking back through our pictures from our trip and saw all the scenery pictures that I didnt share and decided that I should. The scenery up there was beautiful and we really enjoyed it. Hope you all do too.

Our Grand Canyon Trip....

2010-07-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

We are finally back from our weekend vacation to the Grand Canyon. We had a blast, it was an interesting adventure though. The kids were troopers dealing with a new experience for both of them. It was Lexis first camping trip, and the longest trip for Sean. He has never stayed for more than about 12 hours (or stay longer than overnight). It was both their first trip with the outhouse, or the "stinky potty" as it was named later. All in All they did really well.
So here are the pictures and stories of our adventure.....

The kids waiting to go, they were so excited, they didnt want to wait any longer....

On the road, finally....

After 6 1/2 hours on the road (including a stop for lunch and a quick stop at Wal-Mart) we were finally at the campground and ready to set up camp.....

Once the tent was set up we decided that we were just going to spend the first afternoon relaxing and enjoying nature and each others company....

The kids enjoyed having a fresh fruit snack under the tree in their camping chairs....

Then it was time for a fire roasted dinner.... Hot Dogs and Beans, YUM!!!
(The little man was tired of pictures all ready : ) )

And topped off with S'mores (cant have a camping trip without them)....
(unfortunately even though we froze the chocolate and had it in an insulated bag it melted, still made nice s'more though).....

It was the kids first taste of fire roasted marshmallows in s'mores....

Sticky, Ewy, Gooey, But they loved them.....

Then we took a walk to the campgrounds amphitheatre to see the rangers wildlife presentation, it was pretty cool and informative....

The ranger brought all kinds of antlers and fur to talk about the 10 largest game animals (9 of which are found in the forest and mountain ranges where we were staying) The kids thought it was cool. He also had the head of a javelina, it was really cool....

Then it was time to hit the sack, we were ALL pretty tired.....

Up and at 'em, the kids were up bright and early as usual.... BUT, they werent ready for the cold. It was pretty nippy.....

They enjoyed a breakfast of warm pancakes.....

and chillin' by the camp fire to keep warm....

(Insert story here: Those pictures from breakfast and chillin' were taken just before the boy had his first meltdown of the trip. He woke up with a stomach ache and we couldnt figure out what was going on. He ate fine for breakfast and even had seconds, he didnt have a fever or anything, but still was complaining he didnt feel well. We soon found out that he was needing to go potty (#2) but he didnt like the smell of the outhouse so he had been holding it in until it was making him ill. I tried to go with him and help him plug his nose while he went, but it was too late, he had worked himself up so much that he was on sensory overload (gotta love this part of the aspergers). He ended up upchucking in the toilet to which he couldnt stand the smell of and that traumatized him for the rest of the trip. Brandon was a trooper and ended up suggesting the idea and driving him to a less smelly potty in the campground for the rest of the trip, but that was short lived as well. He would much rather go in the "flush" pottys that were in town. Stay tune for more of this story.... lol)

Then after it warmed up enough to put on our shorts and tshirts we were off to the Grand Canyon, we hiked the rim trail (Mather Point overlook was closed so it was a much longer hike than we expected to get to the views, but it was worth it. It was beautiful)....

Then we went to Yavapai Lodge Cafe for lunch (We wouldnt recommend it, it was REAL pricey and the food wasnt all that great, oh well, live and learn).....

Then back to the campground to chill for the evening, the kids and Brandon took a nap while I read, then we had dinner (Chicken Pita Pockets) and then the kids hit the sack again while Brandon and I played cards and enjoyed some alone time....

The next morning (Happy 4th of July)we got up, had breakfast and while the kids drew pictures and enjoyed the campfire again....
Mommy an Daddy played cards until it warmed up enough to go back to the Canyon.....

When we got to the parking lot at Yavapai Pt. we were greeted by a little friend....

The kids thought he was SO cute and Sean wanted to take him home as a pet. He was definately domesticated, he was looking for food and not shy to come right up to us. We tried to explain to the kids why we dont feed the squirrels and just after we did someone else came up and fed the little guy. We had to grab Sean and hurry off because he started telling the guy why he was doing something wrong... LOL... I love my little man.....

Then we headed to the overlook....
The kids enjoyed getting to use the binoculars to see down into the canyon....

Then we headed down the trail to see more of the canyon and get to see and feel the different types of rocks....

Then we headed back to the campsite to cool off and play go fish in the tent....

The little man was SO excited he slaughtered us (7 sets)....

We spent some time in the nice breeze out under the tree.....

After a couple hours back at the site we decided that since we were only going to stay that night and then head home first thing in the morning anyway that it was ok to leave a little early. The poor little man was now refusing to use the potty unless it was a flush potty (the other potty was now just as stinky as ours) and we decided that it wasnt worth another night of torture for him or for us. We had FUN while it lasted. He really wasnt a pain about it at all and didnt complain, he would just hold it in almost beyond his breaking point (and you could tell he was really uncomfortable). We were really proud of how everyone handled the whole trip. There was some adventures most definately, but All in All it was a GREAT trip.

On the way home the kids enjoyed singing with mommy and daddy, drawing in their books, and Sean enjoyed his defusing time with daddys DS.... Thats his way of being able to shut out the world for a time and calm his nerves....

We were glad that we were able to take the time to bond together again as a family. And it was great to get to experience some firsts with the kids. We hope to make some more great memories like this again soon.

Hope you ALL had a GREAT 4th of July Weekend! Loves to you ALL!!!

Camping this weekend....

2010-07-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

YAY!!!! We are taking the kids camping to the Grand Canyon for the weekend. We are SO excited. We almost had to cancel, Brandon just had a tooth extracted yesterday and has an infection in his gums they are treating him for. But he is doing well and things are a go again. We are making it work. The kids cant wait. Its been a little rough, normally we are planning and shopping and packing together. But Brandon has been traveling alot and is now out of town until tomorrow morning, he comes in just in time to get a little mini nap and then we hit the road. So with 2 kids in tow I am shopping, packing, cleaning and laundry. Hopefully we will be able to pull this off without a hitch. Wish us LUCK, We will need it : )

I managed to get all the goodies piled in the livingroom, and then ran out of umph..... I decided that camping supplies should be able to sort themselves out, wouldnt that be great..... But since they dont, I guess its my job.

(I did manage to get it done, now to finish the laundry and dishes and start pre-loading the car.... Fun Times)

When I think things are grim.....

2010-07-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

There are days when I think we all get overwhelmed and think that we cant handle what is before us. I know I do on a pretty regular basis. My little man has become an almost daily struggle that I wonder somedays why me. I also remember the first few weeks after Brandon broke his arm so badly and had to have surgery, and I remember how much of a struggle is was to literally have to take care of him like and infant as well as be mother to our 2 kiddos and how I thought we would never make it through. But we somehow did..... and then I see stories come on the news or across my email like this one, and I know that it could be SO much worse. It makes me count my blessings. I just had to share this touching story. I dont know if I could go through what this family went through and still have hope and walk through life with a smile on my face..... Check it out, dont forget to mute the music player!

Face Cancer

Playing with the Gerbils.....

2010-06-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

The kids have been enjoying watching their gerbils in all their craziness. Now that they have gotten used to us and thier environment we have been handling them alot more. Gotta love the excitement on the kids faces when they hold them. Lexi is still a little timid, but she has actually started holding Punkin in her ball with no lid so she can pet her, and in her log as well. Making progress. Its SO fun to watch them. Enjoy!!!

The Gerbils......

Sean and Jet.....

Jetster......

Lexi and Punkin....

Punkin Pie.....

Enjoy the rest of your week!!!

Last Dance Class of the Session.....

2010-06-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

This was the dance that the girls learned in class, keep in mind they only had 2 weeks to learn it. They were too cute. Gotta love 'em.

They also did the same dance with Ribbons, but for some reason my camera cut off in the beginning so I wasnt able to get it.

Hope you Enjoy it, and Hope you are having a good Summer!!!

My little sister Debi....

2010-06-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am a failure at checking others blogs.... LOL!!!
K So some of you know that my little sister Debi sent in an audition tape for the show Glee.....

We are still waiting to hear back, but if you have would like to check her out and share her info with your friends to help get her name out click on the button below.....

She has her video entry on there and also the code for her button. Check her out, she has a beautiful voice.....

or you can also check out her fan page on facebook....

Debis Fan Page

Thanks guys in advance for checking her out.... Love ya ALL!!!

Playdate with Friends.....

2010-06-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Lexi got to have a play date with her best friend on Friday. She has loved being able to spend more time with her this summer. Between dance class and playdates and adventures.... Its been good to get to see them.

She really loved playing with their little pug.

And they made up a tribal dance....

She had a blast and didnt stop talking about it all night : )
Thanks for having her over guys.

If you missed this tonight you have to check it out....

2010-06-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so one of our favorite things to do as a family is watch Americas Got Talent every season, usually we have to record it for the kids so they can see it the next day, but its a family thing. We have watched it EVERY season since the beginning.

Anyway, if you havent watched it or missed tonights episode, there were two sisters on the show that sang and it was the most beautiful performance and story that I just had to share it. I teared up watching them and listening to them, so if you are an emotional basket case like me you might want to get a box of kleenex.

(Dont forget to pause the music player first)

They were my reason for changing the song on the blog, this has been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it. But pairing it with their story makes it mean SO much more. Anyway, I am including the words because I just think its a beautiful song and I love it. This has been a rough year for me and listening to their story makes me remember that there are others out there going through SO much worse and still making it, they are such an inspiration. I just have to remember that its not all about the battle its about the climb, thats what helps to make us stronger and makes us who we are. When we make it through to the other side of it all as long as we kept climbing thats what matters. Hope you ENJOY it!!!!

The Climb, By: Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

Again, Hope you Enjoyed it...... Loves to you ALL, and dont forget to KEEP ON CLIMBING!!!!

Science Center with Friends......

2010-06-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the Science Center with some good friends today. Its always fun to get to go learn some new things and enjoy the hands on FUN at the Science Center. We love it there. We are hoping to get to spend more time there this year since we now have a membership. Its been great to watch the kids excitement.

Sorry I didnt get alot of picture, forgot the camera at home, Camera Phone pics arent as good.... But I did get a couple for you to enjoy.....

Since they have alot of construction going on at the moment they had a section where the kids could do building with blocks and building toys..... It was enjoyable for a limited time, too many kids and adults wandering around though : )

We also got to stop and see the Eye Demo, Sean has been wanting to see this. They disect a real cows eyeball and show you the parts of the eye. Its pretty cool, but ultra gooey and gorey. The last two times we went they either werent showing it or we missed it. He has been bummed, so we got to stop and see it just before we left. The girls thought it was grouse and icky, but he loved it. I was surprised that Lex actually decided to go up and touch it with him at the end.....

They got to see lots of exhibits on the brain and the body, they learned about what it takes to build a house, they learn about magnetics and how they work, they learned about sound waves, they enjoyed the forces of nature exhibit (one of their favorite, you actually get to feel a taste of what different aspects of nature feel like, from earth quakes to tornados, from lava to hurricanes.... Its pretty awesome, Sean would watch it over and over for hours if we let him). Sean finally got to go through the goosebumps face your fears exhibit, he has been talking about it since the last time we were there and I didnt let him go, it was pretty cool. I was glad we went this time. The kids were excited at first but realized how jumpy they are with new things and the unexpected. They had you stick your hand in boxes and see if you could feel a bug inside, you had to stick your finger in a pipe and see if you got shocked and how you would feel, you had to sit in a room and watch yourself on camera as they shocked you with an unexpected loud noise and see how you reacted and you could have yourself strapped to a board and dropped backwards to see how you reacted.... None of the kids or us moms for that matter did the board. They also loved watching the diagram of the man that was showing the signs of fear and how your body reacts (their favorite part was when he wets himself.... lol.... gotta love kids and the things they find funny). All the time you are testing your fears there are people on the other side that have just been through it that are watching your reactions, it was kind of fun to stop and watch a couple. They also got to see the SRP exhibit on electricity and energy for the first time, its a new exhibit and was quite small but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Then we got to make a stop at the gift shop for some goodies and the cafe for some good eats.....

All in All it was a good day. As we were leaving the kids said they have FUN and it was AWESOME (except the yicky eye, according to the girls.... lol)

Thanks guys for coming with us it was a BLAST!!! See you soon!!!

More Pics: (Thanks Ang)

The Sound Room.....

The Computers.....

The Blocks....

The Plane.....

Thanks again girl, see you soon!!!!

Congratulations Trina and Jason.....

2010-06-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Sean and Lexi have a new little cousin. Peter James was born on Friday June 11th around 10am, weighing in at 5lbs 13ozs (just 2ozs smaller than my littlest peanut was) and 18inches long. He is SO precious, we cant wait to meet him. Congratulations Guys : ) Good Work!!! See you soon. Love you ALL!!!

Aquarium.....

2010-06-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today we had a get together with Grandma and Grandpa Blaylock. We met at Arizona Mills mall. We had lunch and then went to the new Sea Life Aquarium.....
It was a blast!!! It was a lot cooler than we expected for an aqaurium in the mall.

They had lots of peek holes where the kids could climb inside the tank without getting wet and get up close and personal with the fish.

They also had a hands on tank with Starfish and Shrimp, it was cool the kids got to touch the starfish but the shrimp were a little skiddish....

There were lots of different tanks with hundreds of species of fish. It was fun to watch the kids eyes light up. They had seen most of these fish when we went to Sea World, but it was a totally different experience and they were SO excited to be there....

They had a room with one large tank in it where you could go up above it and look in, as well as go into the peek holes on the side (and behind) to get a better view. It was filled with beautiful colorful coral and sting rays, as well as some other species of fish.....

They loved stopping at the peek holes every chance they got : )

And we stopped to watched a video on ocean life too....

The highlight for Sean was getting to walk through the Shark tunnel and be surrounded by the sharks and fish. They also had some BIG bones which he called the Dino in the tank as well. The tank was above and below as well as both sides. It was a cool feeling to be walking on the glass and look down at the fish below.....

They had a standing C shaped Aquarium where you could walk behind and feel like you were inside : )

They were surprised that the jellyfish were as small as they were....

More peek holes.....

There was a game on the floor where the kids got to step on fish to answer the questions...... of course Sean loved it and Lexi joined in on the fun. The lights changed colors depending on if your answer was right or wrong....

We walked through the toddler play zone on our way out and stopped at the kid sized coral for a photo op....

Then we made our way out to the gift shop and stopped for another photo op....

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa it was a FUN day....

We also managed to get a pic of all of us as well...

ALL DONE.... Well Almost.....

We ran outside to get some snow cones and cool off some....
They were YUMMY (and sticky)!!!!

Showing off their FUN new toy and book....

Then it was home to rest for a few, change and then off for Group and Family pics at the church building. Home to change one more time and back to the park for a picnic and games with the Doucet Clan.... Nice ending to a GREAT day.... Thanks Everyone!!!

Hair Cuts, Dance Class, Zoo and Swimming...

2010-06-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day for us. Daddy had been gone all week so we made it family day.

It was time for haircuts for the whole fam....

Then we went off to Lexis first Hip Hop Class of the summer as a fam (Sorry NO pics) and then after going to lunch at Cracker Barrel (Again NO pics) we decided to try to brave the heat and go to the Zoo. We bought a membership this year so we get some great extras and thought it would be FUN to go since we havent been as a family in awhile.

Sean hadnt got to see the Komodo Dragon exhibit yet and he loves the lizards....

Lexi was excited to see the Elephants....

and we ALL love watching the Orangutans!!

Our Trip was short lived, it was 110 degrees that day and Mommy doesnt handle heat well. I started getting really sick and the kids were wanting to play in the water features to cool off but we forgot the towels. So we decided after an hour that we would try another day. Luckily since we are members it wasnt really a waste of money, and the kids were excited they got to go to the Gift Shop on the way out.

Lexi got a Pink Elephant (her Fav) and Sean found a Rescue Helicopter set (anything that moves is a hit for him).... They both love their new additions.

We ended the day with our first swimming adventure of the Season. We decided that was the perfect way to cool off fast. Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Michael came to join us and we made some new friends as well.

It was a FUN day!!!
I love you guys.... You're the best!!! MWUAHHHHHHHH!!!

(Thanks for shraring the pic Trina, its my fav : ) )

Then after putting the kids to bed mommy got to go out for GNO.... Check out the other saturday blog post for that adventure : )

Girls Night Out....

2010-06-08T07:28:00.001-07:00

We went out Saturday night to have our last Girls Night Out and send off for our Fearless Leader/Good Friend Tracy. We will miss you girl, Hope you have a safe trip to Virginia and we wish you the best of luck in your new adventures : )

So we decided to go see another good friends band play at the Firehouse Bar and Grill in Gold Canyon....

Big Town Band: 80's style (Hair Band)

They ROCK!!! It was SO awesome, we had a blast. It was great music and great times with AWESOME friends. Just what the doctor ordered.

The Crew: Some of my Fav Girls in the WHOLE world : )

Our Fearless Leader (Tracy) and The Bride to Be (Christa): Two Great Celebrations in 1 Night!

A Night of Dancing and FUN!

Our Fav Lead Singer (Guitar Player): Donovan

It was a GREAT night, thanks for inviting me girls : )
Best part, NO pic of me.... LOL

P.S. If you like 80's Hair Band Rock and want to check out the band, they ROCK!!!
Go to: BIG TOWN BAND

Part 2 from today: The videos

2010-06-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is the first drum demo that we caught. She was showing us how there were many different kinds of drums in many different sizes and how different they all sound. Sorry that the sound was bad, we were in a little room, and there was a lot of background noise and I was taking it on my phone : ) But that gives you and idea of the fun we had.

These were the frog drums, they were FUN. They were all shaped like little frogs, in many different sizes. They had ridges on their backs and you run a wooden stick up and down them, there were 8 of them and she let the kids come up and help her play them all at once. Our kids were too chicken to go up, but its all good. It was still cool to hear. Again, the sound is not all that great, but if you were in the room it sounded like a pond full of croaking frogs. It was AMAZING.

And last but not least, here was Seans Volcano. After we got done with the drums we got Lexi a library card and hung out for a few minutes in the kid section and then we rushed to pick Sean up and rushed back. Lexi couldnt wait to show him the library (and get him his own card, he wasnt allowed to use hers....LOL), but he couldnt wait to show her the volcano either. So we put the volcano in the dirt of the parking lot and let him show her before we went into the library. It was cute to see her reaction and how excited he was to do it. They put red food die in the bottom of it so that the lava would come out red, it was more pink, but it was cute.

Hope you enjoyed the videos. Come back and check us out after this weekend to see more.

Today it was Science Camp and Drum Demo day....

2010-06-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today was Seans day to have a class or camp with Aunt Tiffy. He is joining her every other week for some FUN Science activities. She has been a God send this summer. This is just the first week, but the kids are LOVING it. So Sean got to learn about volcanoes and make his own today. He couldnt wait to show me and Lexi what it did. Tiff said he was a little squimish at first with the playdough part (with his sensory issues that is to be expected) but once she insisted that he do it he started getting into it and really enjoyed it. As you can see by the smile on his face it was great.

While Sean was in Science Camp we met up with some friends to see a Drum and Japenese instrument demo at the library. It was FUN to not only get to see our good friends but to learn about these fun and amazing instruments. The girls had alot of fun. Thanks for inviting us Ang, we love ya guys <3

It was a great day. Check out the other blog for the videos of Sean volcano and the drum demo.

We will be having another family adventure this weekend since daddy will be home after being gone all week. Be on the lookout for more pics.

June 2nd..... Phoenix Art Museum....

2010-06-03T20:47:00.001-07:00

Another day, just me and the kiddos. We just spent the morning chilling together. The kids played at the park, enjoyed some play time with some of their neighborhood friends. Then we had a late lunch at Denneys....

Then it was off to the Phoenix Art Museum for their Free Wednesday after 3pm....
Little did we know that their hands on kids section is closed until August, it was a bummer. But we decided to take a look around anyway. The kids were able to see the firefly exhibit that Lexis friend had told her about and she was VERY excited about that. All in All the hour we were there was fun. The kids were hilarious. They have nude art there. They didnt mind seeing the insides of bodies, but if it showed boobies or privates they went crazy. Lexi tried to compare it to the Greek and Roman statues of the old days, that helped her cope. Sean was having none of it... He was SO funny, he would yell at the pics, "Put some clothes on" as if they could hear him.
He was facinated with the BLOB art work, because it talked. It was pretty cool.

We took a break to enjoy the view before heading home....

Then it was off to the gift shop... That was the highlight of their day (minus the firefies)....
Lex got some modeling clay, she loves hands on things like that. Creating is her forte. And Sean got a learn how to draw faces book, he loves to draw, thats the thing that helps calm him. It was a good end to a good day.

The intial plan was to come home and get ready for the going away reception of their principle (and my friend) Mrs. (Tracy) Leonard. Sean, however, was SO out of whack from being around the crazy crowd at the museum and SO overstimulated that we ended up staying home. I was sad that we missed it and hope she knows that we were there in spirit and we will miss her terribly. Have a good trip and best of luck in Virginia, we love you Tracy. K.I.T.

June 1st, My Bday.....

2010-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

My birthday was pretty uneventful by choice. It had been a really rough week and I just wanted a quiet day with my kids. Brandon was out of town so it was just us. My mom stopped by and brought me a cake, flowers and a card from her and my dad. It was a nice surprise, thanks guys. I appreciate it.

Then, I took Lexi to Cheer Class (courtesy of my sister-in-law Aunt Tiffy) and me and Sean ran errands and picked up lunch. We ran home to have a nice quiet lunch at home. It was great to enjoy enjoy each others company.

Then after a very unexpected but surprisingly pleasant visitor (those of you involved know what I am talking about and those of you who werent, its not really important who it was. Just that it all ended very well, and I was able to move on with the day vindicated.) we decided to go catch a movie. The kids opted for Shrek: The Final Chapter, it was really cute. Then we grabbed take out and rushed home to catch the Season Premiere of Americas Got Talent, It is a family favorite of ours.

All in All it was a nice quiet day. Just what I wanted.

Oops... Out of Order, May 28th!!!

2010-06-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, My calendar is all out of whack... LOL
So on the last day of school, our little Miss Lex got the Citizenship Award for her class. That means that she was the one in class who showed the most character, she was everyones friend, and did her best to be the best little girl she could possibly be, even when it was tough : ) We are SO proud of her and the little lady she has become.

(We are proud of the little man too, he doesnt need a fancy reward to know that he has worked hard to be a better student and friend this past year. He has come SO far and we are SO proud of him as well.)

OK, May 29th.....

2010-06-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry trying to get back in the habit of updating when things happen. I am working on it. Its been a rough couple weeks to say the least. But I am getting things back and track and working on focusing on my family. I have gotten away from that alot lately and I miss it. So here we go. We decided that we havent done a whole lot of just hanging and bonding activities for no reason lately, so we took the kids to one of our favorite parks by our old apartment. This is a place that we have frequented in the past alot. Back when life seemed so simple and we were SO happy. We have started to realize lately that we have gotten so caught up in life that we are starting to lose track of what means the most to us, our little family. This day was SO Fun for all of us. The kids enjoyed playing and watching the dogs at the dog park......

We enjoyed watching the smiles on their faces, and enjoyed the fresh air and just talking, no gadgets to distract us from each other.

Then after watching the puppies at the park and seeing how much fun the kids had we decided to go to the petstore and see what our options were for puppies.....
Well while we were there we decided that we didnt think we were ready to spend that kind of money on a pet, but we lucked out and the kids fell in love with the hamsters. We decided to leave there and make a trip to Petsmart because they would ahve a better selection of supplies and while we were there the guy talked us into gerbils instead. The kids love them.... So without further adeu, here are the newest additions to our home.... Meet Punkin and Jet!!!

So that was our Fun Family day, stayed tooned, we have alot planned over the summer.
Hope you ALL are enjoying your summer and days with your family.

Spring Performance.....

2010-05-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didnt get alot of pics or videos of the kids performance because I was backstage. Little man was having a rough night and I had to be able to be close just in case. They did a really GREAT job. I was able to get the last half of Grand Old Flag on camera (There songs were all patriotic), it is still a side view but you get the drift. Sean and Lex are the two kids in red closest to the camera. Enjoy!!!

Catch Up....

2010-05-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry I know it has been a couple Months since we updated.... Not alot has gone on, but just a few items of interest. Easter has come and gone, the kids went on a Field Trip to the Science Center, International Night at School (Italy), and the End of the Year Performance.....

Hoping to have a load more pics to share with ALL the events this summer.
Keep Checking Back!!!

Our Adventures in Clumsiness....

2010-03-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

My Poor baby and his broken toe....
Bruised and Swollen!!!!

So Sean decided that it would be in his best interest to come barrelling down the stairs just before dinner last night. As we heard him fall down a couple stairs and start screaming at the top of his lungs we realized something BAD had just happened.

After getting the whole story from his little sister, it appears that instead of stepping on the bottom of his foot he stepped on the very top of his toe as he was coming around the corner, since he was running it happened with alot of pressure and he felt a pop.

We sat him down, iced it, looked it over, he could wiggle it so we assumed it was just jammed a little. We gave him some pain meds and sent him to bed.....

After listening to him whine in his sleep ALL night long, and then being woken up at 6am (on a Sunday morning) to him crying and limping into my room telling me that it hurts LOTS worse. We checked it out and found it extremely swollen and bruised......

So off to the doctor we went. After a crappy experience at the ER full of doctors and staff that dont get children with Nuerological disorders..... UGH!!! We got an answer, He chipped his growth plate in his BIG toe. Nothing they can do but medicate him to make him comfortable while it heals, may take 3-4 weeks.... Yikes, its been a FUN day needless to say.

So Sean was isolated to a couch or the floor propping his foot no matter what, and we had to ice it 4 times today..... He LOVED every minute of it.... NOT!!!

So we have to take it easy for the next week and re-evaluate. Gotta love it.

St Pattys Day....

2010-03-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our Day of GREEN.
I know I am a freak, I try to do something special every St. Pattys Day, not only do we have some Irish in our ancestory, but I LOVE GREEN and what better holiday to celebrate with the color GREEN!!!!

So this year since I didnt have to work and since I had the day with the kids all by myself I decided to go ALL out. No holds barred.....

So since Brandon couldnt be here, and we didnt want him to feel left out, I stayed up late the night before and made him a special lunch and breakfast.....

Breakfast: Green French Toast and Green Eggs with Green Ham Omlette
Lunch: Green Egg Salad Sandwich on Green Bread, Green Jello with Green Grapes, Cucumbers, Green Vanilla Pudding Pie with Green M&M's and Green Powerade.

Then it was time to get things going for the kiddos, They were SO mad at me because I made them go take a shower and get dressed (in their green of course) and stay isolated up stairs until I had breakfast ready and the table decorated.....

They were SO surprised and loved every bit of it.....

Their Breakfast was: Green Eggs, Green Ham with Herbs, Green Shamrock Shaped Biscuits, and a Green Shamrock Shake.....

Then it was time for Arts and Crafts....

They made their own "Lucky" Hats, They made a Leprechaun out of their hand print, and then made a fruit loop rainbow.....
This kept them busy so that I could get our picnic lunch packed.....

Off to the Park, for playtime and a picnic lunch... We also fed the ducks the left over biscuits from breakfast.....

Playtime:

Feeding the Ducks:

Lunch Time:
Green Egg Salad with Lettuce and Cheese on Green Bread, Green Jello with Green Grapes, Green Fruit Salad with Green Apples, Green Grapes and Kiwi mixed with Green Cool Whip; Cucumbers, Green Powerade and Green M&M's

Dessert Time:
Green Vanilla Pudding Pie(with Lime Juice) topped with Kiwi

After a little more playtime it was time to get out of the crazy sun and head home for more fun activities......
St. Pattys Day was the hottest day of the week and we were ROASTING that day.....

So at home it was time for brain work, I saved the best stuff for last. We read the legend of St. Patrick and learned more about Ireland and the St. Pattys Day traditions.... We also did Crosswords, Wordsearches and a Maze.....
The kids thought it was funny that the little Leprechaun on the Maze was named Sean too. That led us to the conversation on why Sean was named Sean and that his name is Irish based.... Its always FUN when we can make FUN time a LEARNING time as well.....

For dinner it was Crock Pot Shephards Pie with Green Turkey and Onions..... The family raved on how yummy it was... I didnt try it, after the day in the sun and all the dairy I was not feeling well... Brandon was great and let me sleep while he fed the kids dinner.

I love these kiddos, they are great, even when I am feeling icky and not wanting to be bothered they always find ways of making me laugh, they are the best.
XOXOXOX

Cooking with the Kiddos....

2010-03-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

So we have recently started letting the kids be involved in cooking when its safe and they are interested. I am still REAL nervous about letting them be near the stove and oven, and about letting them use sharp utensils.... BUT nevertheless we have been cooking.

I took some pictures of our latest adventure, They LOVE Mommies Chicken Enchiladas and decided they want to know whats in them and how to make them.

So here it goes.... Starting with the Recipe:
You will need:

1 to 1 1/2 Pounds of Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast
One 10 3/4 Ounce Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
8 ounces of Sour Cream
One small can of Green Chilies
One can of sliced Black Olives
12 Small Corn Tortillas
2 Cups of Mexi Blend Cheese

I Preheat the oven to 375 degrees,
Then I pre-cut the chicken up into 1 inch squares and cooked it up as well, then dumped it in the bowl for the kids. And we pre-cut the tortillas into 1 inch strips as well (you can cut them as small or large as you like as long as they are cut up it will work for the casserole style dish)

Then it was time for them to get to mix it all up:
Luckily it doesnt have to be mixed in any particular order so this is easy for them to do.

Mix it through real good, make sure the tortillas are covered in the gooey mixture, Now its time to pour it in the Casserole Dish (Or 13x9 Pan, whichever you have):

Spread it out evenly:

Top it with Cheese:

Voila, Its Ready for the Oven (375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until its bubbly):

Enjoying the fruits of our labors:
(Add Refried Beans and Mexican Rice to the side and you have a nice Mexican meal; You can also top it with chopped tomatoes in the last 5 minutes of cooking, that makes it real yummy too, We just didnt have any tomatoes this time)

Two thumbs up from the kiddos:

On to the next adventure!!!!

Lexis Mini Dance Recital....

2010-03-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

Today was Lexis last dance class and they let the parents come in to see a dance they had put together with what they are learning in class. It was too cute, and they learned this in less than an hour. They are SO sdorable and she has so much FUN!!!

Click here to see the Video

My Home Business....

2010-03-03T19:40:00.001-08:00

For those of you who havent heard I have started an at home business. You can check out the info on my Facebook Group for Knick-Knacks 'N More; on the Business Blog, or on the Website. You can also follow us on Twitter or add us as a friend on Myspace.

Enjoy, Pass this on to friends and family, and Happy Shopping!!!
P.S. For the Month of March as a Grand Opening Special I am offering 15% off of your first purchase of $50 or more. You can pass that info on too.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

Well its a good thing we didnt have any major plans for this Valentines Day, I ended up with the Flu early Saturday morning and I have been down for the count since. But my wonderful husband has made sure that I was taken care of and had what I needed to get me through.

I love you honey with all my heart and am so happy that we found each other. I know I dont say it enough but I love and appreciate ALL that you do for our family. Happy Valentines Day Love Bug, Love you forever and always <3 <3 XOXOXOX

P.S. To the Excersizing....

2010-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

The Kids have been having FUN on the Wii Fit too.
Its SO FUN to watch them....

Becoming the NEW Me.....

2010-01-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

So me and my little Sis have started an exersize routine (and a diet of sorts)... Its been FUN to get to have some girl time and to sweat off some very unwanted pounds... Wish me luck. I am just hoping that I have the will power and the continued want to keep it up....