Family Pictures

Every year we rush at Christmas time to get family pictures done so I can get cards mailed out. Well this year we did the rush and then decided to not mail cards out. There are a few reasons why and those reasons are not important the simple fact is, it did not happen this year. Sorry to anyone who was expecting a card this year. Maybe next year but I can't make a promise that far in advance. So the next best thing is I decided to post the pictures on the blog. I hope you enjoy the pictures, please make comments and Merry Christmas Everyone!

PS. Next year I'm changing when we do family pictures.

Halloween

I made Mattie's costume this year. First she was going to be Dorothy and towards the end I had a little mishap with costume and so that did not work. The poodle skirt was my back up plan and it came together 2 days. I thought it came out super cute. Also Mattie's wig came in the day of Halloween and I decided to see how she would do with it. She wore it the entire time and never tried to take it off. David on the other hand tried a few times. One time he did pull it off in front of a lady and all she said was "oh my".

Michael had a hard time deciding what he wanted to be. I was talking to a friend about it and I mentioned that he wanted to be a Skeleton but I did not want to buy a costume. Turns out her son was a skeleton last year and she let us borrow the costume. I should mention that Mattie was scared of Michael at first. It took about 10 minutes for her to get used to him.

David. What can I say about this little guy. He is very stubborn and when he does not want to do something he will not do it. For a month I tried different things on him and he wanted nothing to do with anything. It was a cowboy, a dinosaur, spider-man, and a few other choices and he would not put it on. I thought I had a winner with Spider-man but he wore the costume for 2 minutes and then took it off. I thought on Halloween night after he saw Mattie and Michael dressed up he would do it but nope. I decided to not push the issue and just have him wear his clothes. He wore a t-shirt and jeans and was a happy little guy sitting in the back of the wagon with his bucket of candy.

One of those things

This post is for a giveway I entered.

http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/search?updated-max=2011-11-16T14:33:00-06:00&max-results=3

Step Up Walk for Down Syndrome/ASU Homecoming Parade

In October I attended the first Step Up Walk for Down Syndrome. I took the kids and my mom came with me. The walk every year is part of the ASU Homecoming Parade. It was a great time and a great way to show support for anyone who has Down Syndrome. I was a little worried about Mattie because of the noise but to my surprise she loved it and was dancing with music from the floats and the ASU Band. When it was our time to walk in the parade she did not want to walk or ride in the wagon so I carried her for about 3/4 of a mile. She was all smiles and waved to everyone. While we were waiting for the parade to start and the floats were lining up I saw Coach Kush with Sparky and Elvis. I was so excited to see him. I was by his car and asked him if I could get my picture with him. He said "come on over". Michael was standing next to me and he pulled Michael in the car with him. He was super nice and then everyone started coming up to him. My mom knows his grandson and she told him and they started talking. He asked her if she was single. I told her she should give her number to him but she said he is way older than her. Darn! I told my brother about it and he said the same thing I did. I should note that at the end of the pictures are some of the ASU Cheerleaders. Dan and I always tease Michael about cheerleaders and asking them for a picture. Well it has turned into a joke and so when we see cheerleaders we tell Michael if he ask to have his picture with them, then we will pay him 2 dollars. When I saw the cheerleaders I told Michael to go ask and he went up to them and said "can I have my picture taken with you". Usually he won't ask but this time he did.


Mattie's hand print on the float

Walking in the parade


Part of the float




ASU Band (Mattie is dancing)


Michael


My Mom and David

Mattie

Coach Kush and my Mom



Elvis


Mattie, Michael and I with Coach Kush and Sparky


Sparky and Coach Kush


Mattie and David with ASU Cheerleaders


Michael with the Cheerleaders

Random Pictures

Every once in a while I get to snap a photo of something besides pictures and holidays. Here are a few pictures.

Dan and I were playing baseball with Mattie and David. David was holding the bat and Mattie bent down to pick something up and when she did, David moved and well she suffered a nice little bump on her head. What amazed me was she cried/whimpered for about 2 minutes and then was done with it. She was back outside playing.


David fell asleep waiting for dinner.


Crazy hair/crazy sock day: Mattie put a headband on for crazy hair day-you know since she has no hair and Michael's hair is spiked all over and sprayed with back hair dye. They also had on mismatched socks.



David likes to play with the camera and most of the time the pictures are ground shots but he did manage a half picture of himself.

Michael's Birthday Party

Michael had a few friends from the neighborhood and school over for his birthday. The party was a Star Wars and Lego theme. We had mini Lego sets for each kid to put together and then to take home with them. Funny and expensive story. I found little Lego sets on clearance in September for a few dollars each. I was so excited to find this awesome deal. Anyways the night before the party I was getting every together and could not find the Lego sets. Dan and I searched the house top and bottom. The only thing we can think is the Lego sets where in a grocery bag and I bought them with other groceries and may have been thrown out by accident with the empty grocery bags. So the morning of Michael's party Dan went to the store and bought more of the mini Lego sets at regular price.

The party was easy and boys were very happy with the Lego sets and there blow up light sabers. I ordered a pizza for lunch and told the boys that Darth Vader was going to deliver the pizza. They were so excited and when the pizza guy came to the door they all started shouting and swinging their swords around. I kept the party small and simple and everyone got a long.





Putting lego's together: Right side of table: Cohen, Michael, Sione, Dad, Isaac and Conner.


Waiting for the Pizza Guy

Michael 7th Birthday

Over fall break Michael had his 7th birthday. Dan took a week off work which was wondeful and we were able to do a day thing with Michael. We went bowling and then had lunch at Red Robin In the evening family came over for cake and ice cream. I mad a Chocolate Mousse Cake and it was pretty darn good. The following Saturday Michael had a star wars themed Birthday Party with a few friends from school and in the neighborhood. Michael is great son and Dan and I are blessed to have him. He is a wonderful big brother and he helps with Mattie and David. He is patient and undertstanding and has many friends including girl friends. I have learned that Michael has the gift a gab at school. His teacher thought that by putting him by girls that he would not talk as much but it did not help. Dan and I are learing that he is a smart kid. He loves to read, do math and and is great at spelling. His dad and I are very proud of him.

Yesterday was the Sharing Down Syndrome Walk. This is the first year that we have attended that walk and it was a lot fun but there were some down parts. I hate to say that but it is true. I would do it again next year and next year we would like to get a team together. I had a friend say oh I just have a few people on my team and she had like 25 people. I thought it was funny. She had cute shirts made and she was doing it in support of her son who had Down Syndrome who passed away about 1 year ago at the age of 4 from leukemia. The walk was at Tempe Diablo Stadium and the walk consist of walking around the baseball field while people cheer you. There are tons of booths set up for kids to do activities and food and a few bouncy play areas. Every thing was free except for some food things. Blue Bell and Jamba Juice was there and they were handing out free ice cream and drinks. Unfortunately with Mattie and David still being young and needing help on things we did not do a lot and there were long lines for the bouncy house. The kids wanted to get there face painted and we got in a line that had no wait and we knew why. The girl was getting her entire face painted and the girl doing it was slow. After 5 minutes of waiting and Mattie and David playing in a ice chest filled with water bottles we gave up. We got to do a few other things and walk around and thought that we would buy some lunch there. When I looked at the tables where we could sit every single table was filled with trash. Not just a cup or plate but the entire table had stuff on it. At that point it was getting to warm outside and I was not in the mood to clean up after other people and we left. We ended up at Costco to get a few groceries and bought hot dogs for the kids there. The plus side cheaper and bigger hot dogs. At the event there was a large group of cheerleaders. We told Michael to go ask if he could have his picture taken with them and he said no way. I offered him a dollar and it was a no taker. So the next time we saw some cheerleaders I said 2 dollars and still no way. When we were leaving we saw the entire group taking a rest in some shade and Dan offered him 3 dollars and he said ok I will do it. So I approached a girl and he asked if Michael could have his picture taken with her and she said of course next thing I know the entire group is around us and they had Mattie and David. David did not want to stay so I sat with him. Michael got 3 dollars and we all got our picture taken with cheerleaders. Of course there was blur spot on the lens so the picture turned out with a white spot on it.