Grazing The Hurds

Air Force One

2012-02-03T21:51:00.009-07:00

Flying over the house. It is not everyday that you can say Air Force One flew over your house.

See the blue shirt in the middle of the picture. I watched some guy climb over the fence and he was walking through the desert to get closer for a picture of Air Force One. I'm sorry but what a dummy! With all of the security that was surrounding the airport and the protection that goes into the President. Although I do have to say I was impressed with his ability to get over a barb-wire fence and you would think that a airport that is still used as a military purposes also would have better fencing.

My mom and I took the kids and a friends son to see Air Force One when President Obama flew into Mesa-Gateway Airport. As usual I was running late and was not able to see the motorcade. When I was leaving the house I happened to look up and Air Force One was flying over the house. I went ahead and drove down to the airport and was able to pull over and we could see Air Force one from the side of the road. This is my first time seeing the plane and I'm glad that Michael was able to see it. He and Dan were able to talk about Air Force One that night. Dan told him about what happens when the President comes to town. We talked about the special car that the President rides in and how it gets here. Dan took some of his military books out and showed him pictures. Michael then told us he wanted to join the Air Force and maybe one day he could be a Air Force One Pilot.

Random Pictures

2012-01-10T22:56:00.005-07:00

Michael and Mattie fell asleep on my bed tonight. Yes Michael is sleeping with his hand tucked inside his pants. Also this is how Mattie sleeps. She sticks her legs in front of her and then bends over. She will move through the night but most of the time this is how she ends up.

David fell asleep playing with his trains.

Mattie was hanging on the oven door when it came open. (Don't worry it was not on). She just laid on the floor with this expression on her face.

Birthday

2012-01-10T22:34:00.007-07:00

I'm usually the one behind the camera so I don't have that many pictures of me and the kids. I was excited to have some pictures of me and the kids celebrating my birthday. My birthday was in December and we had a early dinner (that is what old people do right!) at Outback Steakhouse. I have not had a steak in months and I mean monthS with a big S on the end. That is what I wanted for birthday was a steak and red velvet cheesecake. I got the steak but no cheesecake but did have a third best and that was Bahama Bucks. My birthday was simple which is what I wanted. I was able to help out in Michael's classroom in the morning. The kids new it was my birthday and one boy kept asking me how old I was. I would tell him he had to guess or I was so many years older than he was. He could not figure it out. Every guess was in the range of 60 and 90's. I would laugh and tell him to try again. Dan got me a Kindle and I love it. Anyone knows me, will know that I am a avid reader. Any suggestions? I love having multiple books on hand anytime and I will admit I am also addicted to Scrabble.

Thankful Feast

2012-01-10T22:16:00.006-07:00

Mattie's classroom held a Thankful Feast for the parents. It was very cute and the kids sang a few songs and then had a lunch for the parents. I have to say as a mom these are the moments that I look forward to. I love and I'm grateful that I can attend events at the school. I remember as a kid doing different things and having my parents be there. I love having that memory and I am glad that I can do the same. I love the smile on my childrens face when they see me and later at home they will tell me I saw you today at my school.

Mattie realized I was there.

This is Mattie and Madison. Madison's parents are friends of ours. The dads work together and knew each other before we had Mattie and they had Maddie. They are know in pre-school together. The funny thing is @ first they did not get along. Madison use to slap my Mattie. Things have know changed and both can be around each other but under a watchful eye.

David turns 3

2012-01-10T22:00:00.005-07:00

David had his third Birthday in November. It was a nice day and we hung around the house and did not make any big plans. No one was feeling good this day. Michael was getting over strep and David was coming down with croup. I still try to make it fun and put balloons over the house and had pizza, cake and ice cream and invited a few of the neighborhood boys over for cake. I took David to the store so we could get him a cake and he held onto the cake box and told me many times "my cake". He also has become really interested in trains and that is what he got for his birthday. He was so excited to play with them. Michael and his friends helped him build the train tracks. It was a great day and nice to just relax and play. My little D man has is growing up and actually is our funny one in the family. He is still shy around other people and also has is very inpatient and can throw wonderful "fits". Other times he is sweet as can be. All in all he is one darn cute kid and I'm thankful for him.

His expression when Dan lite the candles on the cake.

Star Student

2012-01-10T21:44:00.005-07:00

Since the beginning of the school year Michael has been working so hard to become the weekly star student for his class. In November he finally got to be star student. I had lunch with him at the school. His lunch choice was Subway. I sat down next to him and I noticed a few boys staring at me but did not think anything about it. Finally one of the boys sitting next to Michael said "Um does your mom know she is sitting on the boys side". Sure enough the table is divided by the girls on one side and the boys on the other. So I got up and sat across from him on the girls side. The pictures are of the poster that Michael and I made for him to take to school.

The top picture is an all about me poster:
Favorite Place: Lego store, family cabin and haunted cabin, Grandma & Grandpa's house, toy store and Quick Trip.
Favorite Things to Do: Play Lego's, play the Wii, play with friends, go to the movie's with grandma and cousins, read books and Lego magazine, play outside and play army.
If I had one wish: It would be to own all the Lego's.
When I grow up I want to be: A Police Officer.

Family Pictures

2011-12-20T08:29:00.009-07:00

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

2011-12-08T20:44:00.003-07:00

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

2011-11-19T19:27:00.002-07:00

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

2011-11-09T19:41:00.011-07:00

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

2011-11-08T16:47:00.003-07:00

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

2011-11-08T16:19:00.004-07:00

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

2011-10-31T13:44:00.006-07:00

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.

2011-09-11T07:09:00.005-07:00

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.

Eating and Sleeping

2011-09-11T07:03:00.003-07:00

I love moments like this one when your kids fall asleep during the day doing something. I'm not sure what David was eating but it looks like pie. In the middle of the day I'm usually tuckered out. and It is good to know that sometimes they get tuckered out by me once in a while. I also love Mattie's expression in the picture. After the picture she tried to wake David up.

Watermelon

2011-09-11T06:58:00.002-07:00

This year the garden was bigger than ever and I was up to my ears in produce. We decided to try something new and plant the watermelon along the fence this year and let it grow. It did grow and we did get watermelon but for whatever reason not like the past summers. We did have one big watermelon that weighed 28 lbs and it was yummy.

Dan's uh.... what birthday is this?

2011-09-07T21:13:00.015-07:00

Sorry there are tons of pictures on this post. Dan celebrated his birthday last month. I did a small party with family and friends. I ordered a large sub and had chips and dips and salads. I ordered his cake from my favorite Bakery. I made individual peach pies in mason jars and a apple pie which is Dan's favorite. We all had a great time and learned that Dan yes is a fast runner. My 13 year old nephew thought he could out run Dan and so at 8 that night there was a race in the street to see who was faster. Dan beat Lane 3 times but we also learned that Michael is a fast runner who also beat Lane running. Dan received some great theme gifts and some also really nice gifts. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the funny gifts but I think I managed to get a picture of the tennis balls.

Breakfast

2011-09-07T20:59:00.003-07:00

One morning I walked into the kitchen and saw this laying on the floor. I did not put it together and just thought one of the little one's took it out of the trash.

Later in the morning I opened the cupboard to get a pan a saw this.....

Then I figured it out...... Someone decided to make breakfast and I think it may have been this little guy.

First Day of School

2011-08-24T22:13:00.006-07:00

School started in towards the end of July. Michael is in 1st grade and Mattie is in pre-school. Both are doing really well in school and have great teachers. Mattie is in the morning pre-school class so it is David and I for a few hours each day. The one time has been great and I sometimes get things accomplished. Since David has seen Michael and Mattie with backpacks he decided he wanted one to. He know uses one of Michael's old backpacks and will take it with him when we go places.

David

Mattie

Michael

Mattie and Nancy

Mattie walked into the classroom and went to the reading area

While I was making dinner someone colored on the couch

And then fell asleep.

Cabin Trip

2011-07-18T19:36:00.007-07:00

End of June we went to the cabin for a few days. The weather was great, it was warm during the day but cooled down to the mid 60's at night. We borrowed Grandma and Grandpa Hurd's SUV because it has 4 wheel drive and we wanted to do some exploring at the top of the mountain. We went to the Old Dandrea Ranch which was a working ranch around the 1890's. No buildings remain but there is still some fencing in the pasture area. We also went into Prescott the back way "Old Senator Highway" and had a picnic and went to the Sharlot Hall Museum. The kids had so much fun playing and hiking and were so dirty and tired by dinner time. There was no hot water and the water up there is cold so we did old fashion baths with a pot of warm water from the stove. Every trip Michael wants to see the Pink cabin, which at one time many many years ago my Aunt Mattie Lee and Uncle Jimmy owned. We always say the cabin is haunted and sometimes at night you can hear the ghost of Uncle Jimmy whistling.

Just in case anyone picked up on the name Mattie, this is who Mattie is named after. My aunt's real name is Mattie Lee and never Mattie. When Mattie was born Dan and I took out the Lee and gave her my middle name. My Aunt Mattie Lee was my Grandma Anderson's sister(mom side of the family).

Proof that the SUV has seen dirt.

Michael

David was so dirty after playing all day.

Mattie chilling on the porch

Picture taken from the top of the mountain when coming back from Prescott. Our cabin is somewhere down below.

David and Michael showing the sticks that they found while hiking up at the top where the mine is.

All 3 showing there sticks.

The haunted pink cabin: Where Aunt Mattie Lee and Uncle Jimmy used to live.

Michael on the porch of the pink cabin. Found some old bones that are kept on the porch. This is proof that it is haunted.

Dandrea Ranch and Sharlot Hall Museum

2011-07-13T13:26:00.011-07:00

We went to visit the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott. We packed a lunch and were able to sit at a picnic table at the museum (next to the windmill). After visiting the museum we went across the street to the archives site and I was able to view and copy old pictures of our cabin area when it was a working mine.

Sharlot Hall was Arizona's first territorial historian. She felt it was important to preserve the history of Arizona. The sight of the museum is where the first territorial Governor's home was built. Since then either replicated or the actual buildings were added. It is a great place to visit and would recommend it to anyone.

Mattie looking at the flowers

First Territorial Governor's Mansion

A old bed in a log cabin. Mattie climbed right on up and laid down. The bed was stuffed with straw and underneath there was rope to tighten or loosen the mattress. I'm not sure if it was an actual bed or a replica of a bed. If I had to guess it would be the actual bed.

looking at fish in the pond

The windmill that we sat next to and ate lunch.

Fort Misery. Sign reads "oldest log cabin built in Arizona in 1864. The cabin originally was about 1/2 mile away from the Sharlot Hall Museum.

OLD DANDREA RANCH:
The ranch is located about a mile from our cabin. It was a working ranch in the 1890's.

I copied this picture from the Sharlot Hall Archives site.

Cows

Part of the road that we drove on.

Mining Claim

Pasture area of the ranch. My dad said the house used to be in this area but burnt down a long time ago.

2011-07-05T07:21:00.003-07:00

Mattie turned 4 this year. She had school in the morning and took cupcakes to class. She and David had McDonald's for lunch. Her Grandma and Grandpa Hurd stopped by in the afternoon and she got a little Red Riding Cabbage Kid. That evening some of the neighborhood kids came down, Grandma Henney and Nancy who is a friend came over for dinner. I did a sub sandwich and salads. The adults had fun talking and the kids had fun playing. Everything turned out great and Mattie loved her pig cake. At that time her new sign was pig and she signed every animal pig. I was not sure what she would do with the cake but as soon as she saw it she signed pig and would point and oink. She is so awesome to have in this family and Dan and I love her so much and has given this family so many blessings. She is funny and loving and cares for others. She hugs everybody including strangers. She loves her brothers and they are the highlight of her day.

Easter

2011-07-03T07:22:00.005-07:00

Easter was relaxing this year. Dan worked his regular schedule the night before Easter and had to work Easter night. I did not wake up in time to put the Easter Baskets outside and Michael was up before me. I did not know what to do and he was upset that the Easter Bunny did not leave him his basket. I sent Michael and David on a basket hunt and when they got to the garage I quickly set the baskets out on the front porch. I had the baskets hidden in the den and Mattie was grabbing toys and saying "that" as I was quickly making my sneaky move. I just had finished closing and locking the door when Michael came in and told me they were not in the garage. I told him to check the porch. As the kids were on the front porch looking at there baskets Dan was getting home from work so he got to be with them as they went through their baskets and did the Easter Egg hunt. The bunny hid a bunch of plastic eggs this year but did not hide the colored eggs. Michael and I decided that it was because the Easter Bunny was in a hurry, kind of lazy, and he was also very messy. He ate lettuce and carrots and left some on the floor in the house and the back porch. He also spilled jelly beans on the front porch next to the baskets.

I made French toast for breakfast with home-made syrup. For dinner I did the traditional ham dinner with mashed potatoes, salad and fresh green beans. Dessert was a strawberry pie.

Mattie's 4th Birthday

2011-04-26T21:38:00.003-07:00

So much to say but will have to do it later. I just wanted to get the post up and pictures of Mattie. She is such a special girl and we all love her so much. She is tougher than any kid I know and endures so much but she keeps going and at the end always has a smile on her face and will wave and huge everyone around her. Happy Birthday Mattie.

Oh boy.......a tiny jar of makeup and this.....

2011-04-19T21:58:00.004-07:00

First I have to explain that I keep my bedroom door closed and bathroom doors closed and have the childproof plastic knobs on. I also keep my makeup in a bag in the medicine cabinet. Today I was cleaning the master bedroom and bathroom and the hall bathroom and the doors were open. Mattie and David were in the room with me and playing with some toys. I went into the hall bathroom and soon I heard laughter. My curiosity wondered what was so funny. I walked into the room and saw this..... I could not believe it. They found a tiny jar of something and put it on themselves. As you can tell both think it is great and David is proud of his handy work. It was David who decorated both since Mattie had nothing on her hands or fingers. After some makeup remover, soap and scrubbing I finally got it off.

Random pictures

2011-04-19T21:25:00.004-07:00

First Picture is Mattie. I showed this picture to Dan and his response was "I wonder where she got it from".

Seriously I don't vacuum and talk and the phone at the same time.

Mattie and David helped paint the garden boxes. They did a pretty good job and even managed to get some paint on them.

It took a few looks to figure out what was going on in the picture. I thought he was posing for his new sunglasses and then a second look I realized it was the hair. He got his haircut and Michael is always asking for a Mohawk. Ummm......NO. So the stylist asked him how he wanted it combed and he said a Mohawk. I figured what the heck it was the weekend so she spiked it down the middle and asked if she could put some color gel in it. I said sure and this is the look. Michael ended up not liking it and asked to take it out later on. All the neighbor boys that he looked cool.

Which leads me to a question I see young kids with Mohawks and I ask Why?

April Fools Day

2011-04-17T16:25:00.021-07:00

This is the first time Dan and I did a April Fools Joke on the kids. Mattie and David are to young to understand and will eat anything but Michael... we got him good and my mom. I made cupcakes frosted with mashed potato's that I dyed green. For dessert I made cupcakes that look like they had peas and carrots on top. I used green runts for the peas and carrots I cut up a orange starburst. I also made cupcakes that looked liked mashed potatoes. The gravy was carmel and the butter was a melted yellow starburst. Dan and I told Michael that for dinner he was having cupcakes. It took 3 bites before Michael realized what he was eating. He was a little hesitant on the dessert but after a few bites he figured out it was a real cupcake with candy on top. Mattie and David ate everything but once I put the real ones out they ate those instead.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes cupcakes:

First Bite:

Second Bite:

Third Bite: "Hey these are not cupcakes, it's meatloaf"

Mattie and David:

They like it:

Dessert I'm not so sure about this:

Taking a bite with hesitation:

David likes it:

Mattie likes it:

My mom's reaction:

A ball of sheets

2011-04-17T16:14:00.003-07:00

I hate posting pictures of my bedroom for a few reasons but this time I had to do it. I wonder if this happens to anyone else and I told Dan I was doing this for proof and documentation. Many nights I get into bed and I have to re-make the bed because the sheets are all tangled up. We are on a different sleep schedule as I like to call it Dan has vampire hours. This particular time the sheet and blanket were in one big ball in the middle of the bed. I often get blamed for the sheets and blankets but this is proof that I do not do it.

I did it.... David's First Haircut

2011-04-17T15:29:00.016-07:00

I did it... I did it... I did it.... It took me many months to do it but I finally convinced myself that David was ready for his first haircut. We did it in March so that would make him 28 months. My deciding point was when those sweet little curls would not stayed curled any longer. I was afraid to cut his hair because I did not want to lose the curls. At first he was a little hesitant and scared but as the girl kept cutting he relaxed and let her cut his hair. Dan had the honors of holding him. He know looks like a handsome little boy and he even has a little bit of a wave on top.

Before Pictures:

During the haircut:

I love his expression " What in the heck are you doing to me"

Using the clippers-I thought he would be scared but he liked it and even managed a little smile.

After: The sucker makes is all worth it.

The Kentucky Wildcats

2011-04-17T15:03:00.005-07:00

Michael is playing his first year of coach pitch baseball and he is number 6. He is on the same team with 2 of the neighbor boys (Nate and Cohen) and Cohen's Dad is the coach. I will have to admit at the beginning he had a rough time playing and it was a struggle to get him to go to practice and the games. After some pep talks, frustrating moments and a extra time spent on hitting, throwing and catching he likes to play and has become a good player. His team this year is the Kentucky Wildcats and it is the perfect team name for this family because the Hurd family is from Kentucky. Baseball currently fills up our time during the week. Practice is once a week and games are twice a week. It is getting fun to watch the games and the team has improved a lot from the first few games. Dan and I enjoy watching the games and cheering the team on but we also do a great deal of chasing Mattie and David around.

School play and Honor Roll

2011-04-17T14:38:00.007-07:00

In March Michael had his first school performance. It was a musical and the songs where about animals. Michael was a cat and he played the part very well. He was very nervous before the performance and was shaking a little bit but he was also very excited. Grandma and Grandpa Hurd came to watch and after the performance we all went to Yogurt Jungle to celebrate.

Also in April Michael made the Honor Roll for the 3rd time this year. He made straight A's and Dan and I were so excited. He works hard and does his homework and is one smart little guy. Way to go Michael!

It has been a long time

2011-03-31T21:38:00.003-07:00

Here I sit at night thinking of all the stuff I should do but I don't get it done. I need to pay bills, fold laundry do the dishes sweep and mop the floor for the trillion time this week, well at least that is what it feels like. Reminds me... today I watched the you tube video about the twin boys talking to each other. You know the one right? Anyways it is cute and blah blah but for some reason I noticed their house and just stuff laying around and I though oh good their house looks like mine. I wonder if it is wrong to think this way. I always imagine everyone has this perfect clean house and my house looks like a tornado has hit it 3 times or at least that is how I feel. The laundry oh the laundry and the dishes seriously I know why paper products were invented.

Anyways back to subject Everyone is asleep and here I sit drinking ruby red squirt. I'm not a squirt fan and when I was pregnant with David I had to go to the ER to be hydrated because I threw up so much. Nice huh? On a side note I had to do this with all of my kids. I hardly gained weight while pregnant from being so sick. I think with Michael I finally gained around 15 lbs, Mattie was around 6 and David I never gained any weight. Anyways the nurse said when she was pregnant she would crave squirt. So after I left the ER, Dan and I went to Quick Trip and I got a squirt. I threw it up. So gross. Anyways about a year ago my friend had ruby red squirt at her house and since then I've been hooked only on ruby red squirt but it is a occasional drink I rather have caffeine Coke, Pepsi, Diet DP.

Speaking of Quick Trip does anyone feel that QT is a staple in their life.

Funny story about my friend you know the one with the Ruby Red Squirt. A few weeks ago her son left his sandal in my van. Well I took my kids on their first bike ride in the bike trailer and I was going to take it to her but I forgot to do it. Then I could not find the sandal but the last time I remember seeing it was on my kitchen counter. I searched the house for three days and could not find it. I felt so bad for losing the sandal that I bought a new pair of sandals. Today she called me to say "Hey funny story but I found the sandal". Well it turns out she was driving down the street this week and saw a sandal on the side of the road. She said she thought to herself oh how weird someone else is missing a sandal like my son is. The next day she drove by it and the sandal was still there. She had the feeling to stop and it was her son's missing batman sandal. Either Mattie or David took the sandal and threw it out of the bike trailer.

Speaking of Mattie and David those two are a handful and by the end of the day I'm so tired. It is constant with them and they both have figured out how to open the freezer and refrigerator doors. The front door is always locked with the chain on, doors to the garage and bathrooms and the den are either locked or have child safety knobs on them. Currently Mattie's favorite thing to do is take her plate or bowl from the kitchen table and take it to the living and sit in front of the TV to eat. David likes to take the cushion's off the couch and oh take things when I'm not looking and dump it on the couch.

Michael is playing baseball and is getting better and this past game he won the game ball. He hit the ball each time he was up to bat and made 2 runs for the team. The third he got out because our team had already scored 5 runs and that is part of the rules. He has been so happy about it and wants to tell everyone about his game ball.

Today Dan mowed the lawn in the back and I worked on the garden. I convinced him to let me plant Eggplant. I also re-planted some stuff. The garden is big and I really hope it grows. Wanna hear the list. Pickling cucumbers, Burpless cucumbers, potatoes, okra, corn and green beans, watermelon, zucchini, strawberries, artichoke plant, jalapenos, red and green chili's, lettuce, onion, tomatoes (8 plants) broccoli, cabbage, cilantro, and eggplant. We also have grape vines, a peach tree, apple trees, blueberries and black berries and a rose bush. I will have to post pictures of the garden and talk about it at a later time. Especially why I have 10 maybe 11 Zucchini plants. Crazy huh.

Well those are my random thoughts so know I should do some work. Stay tune for more post. Valentines day present, baseball, What Mattie and David did, the garden etc...

Oh one more thing David likes to watch baseball know and eat strawberries. This is more for my record. I should write it in my journal.

a love note

2011-02-23T18:08:00.004-07:00

My favirote part of this week: Going into my bedroom to find this taped to my bedroom door.

Yes Cheerios do make a mess

2011-02-23T18:00:00.004-07:00

Back to School

2011-01-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Michael and Mattie the first day back to school after Christmas break. Look at those smiles! Also everyday David goes with me to take Mattie to her classroom. I took a picture of all the kids walking into the school this week. It is a little hectic in the morning and when I have David and Mattie who like to take off it can be a challenge sometimes. Michael waits by the van and holds David's hands while I get Mattie. He then holds his hand and helps him across the parking lot, while I help Mattie with her walker.

Random stuff

2011-01-09T10:55:00.001-07:00

All I can say is David got into the dish soap. He climbed onto the counter and decided to experiment with dish soap. What is funny is when I walked into the kitchen he saw me said "Uh-oh" and grabbed some paper towels and tried to clean it up.

Mattie loves to get onto the computer or the desk draws every chance that she gets. Which is why the doors to the den are usually locked. This time she got passed me and decided to get into the draw and throw stuff out and then sit in it. I've learned that it is not a place to keep makers.

David's loves a stuff bear and the bear is not far from him at all times. At Christmas time he also became obsessed with a strand of Christmas lights and he would put them in his bed at night time. I decided to not fight it and after he would fall asleep I would remove them from the bed.

Do you see what I see

2011-01-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before Christmas I could not find David's glasses. I searched and searched the house and cleaned and dug through everything. After four days I was sitting next to Mattie and David and I noticed a army guy and a car in the Chrismtas tree. Then the light went off and I wondered what else is in the tree and sure enough after finding a few more small objects I saw his glasses on the backside of the tree stuck way in the back. Silly boy.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

Dan and I survived Christmas. We had so much fun this year shopping for the kids and we bought stuff during the year so when it was time to survey the presents we were amazed at how much stuff there was. We set a budget and we came in under budget so we were proud of ourselves for that. The kids did not get big presents but got what they needed and of course some toys. Michael wanted a police Lego set and clothes. Mattie and David had no request but both got Lego's and clothes and other toys. Also grandparents on both sides of the family bought either scooters or little trikes for the kids. Since then Dan and I have been busy putting together Lego sets. I have to admit that I'm pretty good at putting them together. I will have to post a picture one day of my creations. Christmas Eve was low key and my dad came over. Christmas day was very nice. I think this is the first year that Michael really knew about Christmas and he was excited. He had a hard time going to bed and kept getting out of bed to either go to the bathroom or get a drink. The last time was around 1 am and I all I can say was we almost got caught putting presents out. On Christmas morning Michael was up at 6:00 and Mattie and David were up around 7:00. Grandma and Grandpa Hurd came over in the morning and my side of the family came over in the evening. The day was wonderful and we played with all the new toys and by time night time came we were all so exhausted.

It's a ketchup of a mess

2010-12-12T13:13:00.001-07:00

The other night David dumped a brand new bottle of ketchup on the chair and floor. When he saw me come around the corner he dropped the ketchup bottle and said "Uh-Oh" and then stuck his fingers in the ketchup and licked it. Of course Mattie then had to join in the mess. I thought cleaning up would be hard but it turned out to be easy to clean just took time and luckily it did not stain anything. My only thought that night was I kept telling myself I was thankful that I did not get the economy size bottle that I originally grabbed.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with Dan's family. We went to his parents house for dinner and Dan's brother Dennis and his wife Kim and their son Kyle. Also Dan's Aunt Pris, Uncle Bill and Chloe. Dinner was wonderful and we had a great time. I enjoyed talking to everyone and I have learned that Dan and his brother has very similar sleep habits so Dan can no longer blame me for things like stealing covers and the sheets being twisted and kicked down to the end of the bed. Michael, Mattie, David and Chloe had a wonderful time playing. David is our eater in the family and he loved all the food and just kept eating everything. After we got home that night, I did a little evening cleaning and then headed off to bed for a few hours of rest before I had to get up and hit the stores for shopping. I went to Target with my friend Janelle and we got what we wanted and then realized the line to check out was very long and decided what we had was not worth the wait. We then went to Wal-mart and then to the mall. Janelle had a friend in town and she meet us at the mall and together we had fun shopping and we got some great deals. Janelle's friend had a 20 percent off coupon at The Children's Place and they were doing 30 percent off everything and they allowed us to combine it with the coupon so everything we got was 1/2 off. If anyone knows me will realize that I don't spend a lot on myself and my clothes and shoes are limited in selection. So I decided to splurge a little on a pair of boots I had been wanting. When I went to pay they were on sale and then I had a coupon for 10 dollars off so the boots came to 19 dollars. I was so excited about it. It was fun to shop with friends and I was so exhausted when I got home. Dan had fun with the kids and he called me while shopping to tell me about there morning and the awesome breakfast that they had together.

Michael eating cookies or should I say sneaking cookies. I wonder how many he had that night?

Mattie

Mattie playing with a doll

Birthday Boy

2010-11-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

David turned two in November. For his birthday he had lunch at Red Robin and then he got to pick a toy from the toy store. That night he had pizza for dinner and my brother and his family came over to celebrate. David has figured out to blow and every time the candle was lit on his cake he would blow it out so the candles were never lit at the same time. I could not get a picture of him blowing on the candles because he would do it so fast.

Toilet v Football Game

2010-11-08T16:28:00.001-07:00

Dan was so wrapped up in watching the UofA Football game on Saturday that I had to bring the toilet out to him.

A Muddy Mess

2010-11-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

Of course my blog is never complete without a David and Mattie mess. Over the weekend I did some work in the garden. Mattie and David decided to help and it turned into a mini-mud fight. I turned to look at them and happened to see David putting a clump of mud on Mattie's head. Then I looked at David and saw that he had a clump of mud on his head. I guess it was pay-back. At that point I figured the damage was done they were all ready muddy and just having a great time playing in mud.

month of October

2010-11-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

I decided to blog about the month of October instead of doing a individual post for each event. As I look back on the month I realize what a busy month October was. I did two weekend cabin trips. The first trip was for the day and then the second trip was overnight. The weather was great especially on the second trip and Debbie and I took a nice long hike up the mountain road! We were walking pass some blackberry bushes and kept wondering what was on them. Debbie moved a leaf and all of a sudden ladybugs went flying every where. There were honestly thousands of ladybugs on this bush. As usual Michael spent all his time out doors shooting the bow and arrow, playing army and looking for bugs and trying to find animals. The only thing he saw was a raccoon and a skunk. Michael also made Honor Roll at school. He did not understand it but Dan and I were really excited for him. I was able to go on a field trip with Michael's class to Schnepf Farms. It was warm that day so I came back with a serious sun burn but it was so much fun and I had Michael and two other boys assigned to me. They were fast, full of energy and wanted to do everything. The trip was a blast. I told them at the petting stable that they had to shovel the animals poop and when we got over there they kept asking me when do they get to shovel poop. I also told them the pig races were when you raced against a pig. So when we got to the pig races one of the boys looked at me and said he was really bummed about not racing a pig. We also did the usual Halloween traditions and that was decorating pumpkins and dressing up and going trick or treating. All three kids helped with cleaning the pumpkins out. We started out with Mattie using her walker for trick or treating and she made it about one half of the street and was tired out. I put her and David in the stroller and they both sat there holding their buckets. Every time Mattie would see someone passing candy out she would point at the candy bowl and say "get" and then point at her bucket. She then would sign thank you to them. David still does not say much but he would wave and say bye. Michael loved being a army guy and all of the older men would make a comment about his costume one guy even gave him 2 handfuls of candy because he said army guys were the best.

Michael receiving his award for honor roll

Picture at the cabin

Michael with his cousin's homemade bow and arrow

Pictures of ladybugs on the blackberry bush

Mattie, David and Michael getting ready to Trick or Treat

Mattie is a cat

Super David

Halloween Pumpkins after a few days. We somehow ended up with 9 pumpkins this year.

Creating the pumpkins

# 6

2010-10-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my oldest turned 6 in September. He celebrated is birthday by having lunch and playing games at Peter Piper Pizza. Then we went to the Lego Store and he picked something from Dan and I but he also spent the rest of his money that he had left over from vacation. All I can say is this little guy made out like a bandit. For dinner Grandma and Grandpa Hurd joined us and he wanted tacos. His cake choice was chocolate. I made the cake the night before and he surprised me the next morning and decorated it himself and he did a pretty good job. Funny story about one of his birthday gifts. In California Dan and I saw a really cool poster of different jets on it. Well when he opened the poster it turns out it was a poster of Rosie the Riveter. The sticker on the poster wrapping was incorrect. He thought it was funny but did tells us that it wast he worst birthday present ever.

unwrapping the first present

OOPS-Wrong Poster

New Pajamas

New Books

Army cake

Blowing out candles

Mattie waiting for cake

First Family Vacation

2010-10-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last week Dan and I went on our first family vacation with the kids... destination Legoland and San Diego. We went with Dan's parents who have a Motor home and we stayed at a RV resort in Escondido. We did Legoland for 2 days and we had a great time. Mattie came just a tad under 34 inches which was the height requirement for most of the rides. After a quick fix with some extra socks in her shoes she magically was at 34 inches. We then learned that she did not like any of the rides. David did not care and went with the flow of things. Michael loved all of it especially the roller coasters and the lego store. We also went and did a tour of the Midway Aircraft Carrier and we took Michael on a Harbor Tour. I had a few friends who went to week or two before us and they all said it was cold. So I was prepared for cold weather and in return we were there during the heat wave. We had to go out and buy shorts and short sleeve shirts.

The Midway

I love this picture. We were walking by this guy and he saw Michael pointed at me and then at Michael and waved us over. His name is Robert Cressman and he was stationed in Normandy France during World War II. This was his helmet and he put it on Michael. He then put the sign in front of Michael and said take our picture. Behind him are pictures of him during the war. He was telling stories and you could ask him questions and he would answer them. He was very patient and nice to everyone.

French Submarine at Coronado Island

USA Submarine at Coronado Island

This is a Hospital Boat. We were told it was the 4th largest hospital in the United States. I still have a hard time believing it but I still thought it was pretty cool. It was docked and out of commission for some repairs.

Mattie and Me on the Flight Deck of the Midway Aircraft Carrier

David sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet

Michael sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet

Legoland

Dan thought this was funny. You had to pump the fire truck and it was a race with everyone else. Michael would not pump and I could not do it by myself so I was stuck. The guy operating the ride had to come over and help me.

Picture of Dan and I at a look out point in the mountains. If you look behind us you can see part of the road that you drive on. It was a steep 2 way road with many switch backs and some parts had no guard rail to protect you from going over. Once we were in the mountains I saw the cutest homes and ranches. I even saw the picture perfect little white church. I wish I would have taken a picture of it.

Happy Birthday

2010-09-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 6th Birthday Michael!
We love you,
Dad,Mom,Mattie and David

Reason Number _____ you don't leave Mattie & David in a room by themselves

2010-09-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

Michael's Lego

2010-09-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Michael loves lego's and I decided to show some of his creations that he asked me to take pictures of.

New Haircut for Mattie

2010-09-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

Mattie got her haircut today and I love it. The pictures really don't show how cute it is. In some of the pictures you can see bald spots. In the past few weeks her hair has been falling out like crazy. She has a autoimmune disease called propecia which causes bald spots. There is not much that can be done but we do have a appointment with a dermatologist just to make sure it is nothing else or related to some other stuff she has going on. The hair loss comes in spurts and unfortunately this is the time for it to happen. Her hair is thin and brittle and tangles easy. At first I was going to get it trimmed but the lady talked to me about doing a bob style and defining the bangs that were growing. She looks so cute and I think it makes her look a little bit older. I love Mattie with her pig tails but she is not the girl who keeps her hair done, she was always pulling the pig tails out. I've tried ribbons and bows and barrettes and she pulls them out. This new style is easy to maintain, less combing and Mattie won't have to pull anything out.

We call her medical Mattie

2010-09-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Will post pictures later... Having a hard time up loading from blogger site. Does that make sense?

The past week Mattie has had a few medical procedures. Mattie had ear tube surgery last weeks ago also she had a ABR Hearing test after the tubes were put in. ABR stands for Audio Brain Response. ABR is performed while the patient is asleep. It requires silence and the patient to be still. It measures the vibrations of the ear drum to the brain response of different sounds and pitches. Don't ask me how because I don't know. Anyways usually her hearing test come in around the 45 mark and after the ABR test she was at 30. The normal range is 15-30. Yea Mattie can hear! Well she could always hear but with all the goop that is in her ear that does not drain out it sounds like muffled under water talking. (that is what the doctor said). Anyways for different reasons Mattie is a hard needle stick.

I have to add a quick note. To the few adults that say I'm a hard stick to please don't, I think Mattie is harder than you and really you are comparing yourself to a 3year old.

.....Anyways sorry for the rant..............

It took the doctor 45 times to finally get the IV started. We did not know it at first but when we got home we were looking at her feet and at first I thought it was a little rash but nope it needle marks. I felt so sick to my stomach. The good thing is she was asleep. The doctors gas the little kids first get them to sleep and the start the IV. So at least she did not feel the pokes but she was a little sore after the surgery. To top it off the next morning she woke up crying and Dan went to check on her and she managed to get her arm stuck in a crib slate and between the wall. The pressure was on one of the needle pokes and it came open and was bleeding. Dan said it could be marked down as "not one of the best parenting moments".

Well to add to the fun of surgery the next week (fast forward to this week) she had to be put under anesthesia again for a MRI/MRA scan. I was a little nervous for a few reasons and when we showed the doctor and nurses her needle marks. They were in shock and a little worried about getting a IV because the bruising and scarring on the veins. It took 6 times to get the IV started. All in all the good news is and this is what we wanted she has no changes with her brain arteries. Things are stable and still look good. She is due back in 6 months for another scan and we get to repeat this procedure again.

Little Getaway

2010-08-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

Last week Dan and I did a overnight trip to Tucson for Dan's birthday. My mom watched the kids for us and it was the first time that we have been away from them. The trip could not have come at a better time since the night before neither of us had a lot of sleep. I was with my brother in Phoenix and we took our Aunt to the hospital. The hospital was a interesting place and there was a homeless guy who followed me around. I did not get home until 3 AM and then was up at 6 AM. Dan went to bed around 1 AM and woke up at 5 AM. We both were so tired Friday night when we got to the hotel but after relaxing a little bit we went to dinner and because it was Dan's birthday he received a free meal. After dinner we made a pitsop at Walgreen's to get a few of the left behind items such as a comb,deodorant and toothpaste. We then headed back to the hotel and hung out by the pool for a while and people watched. I just remember asking Dan what time it was thinking it was around 11 and it was only 9 PM. We headed back to the room where the air conditioning was set at 65 degrees. It was nice and cold and the bed was soft and fluffy and warm and we both crashed. It was so nice to get a good nights sleep and not have anyone wake me up in the middle of the night. The best part was the next day I did not have to make the bed. After breakfast we headed to spa and each one of us got a massage. After the massage we hung out for about an hour and then did a little shopping and went to lunch. Dan's favorite Mexican food restaurant was packed so we went to another favorite place. After we got home baby David was not feeling well and had a little fever. Plus he was so mad at us for leaving. He would not look at us and just hung is head down. After a hour he started to warm up but still would not smile at us. Sadly to say we don't have any pictures of us together. I'm horrible about things like that but we both did manage to capture a few random pictures.

A cute little squirrel

Yikes... yes a picture of me, I don't have many pictures of myself so this one shows that I do exist.

The view from our hotel room

Proof that my husband does remember how to iron

I would love to have this

2010-08-15T23:53:00.000-07:00

I would love to have this for my kids, mostly David and Mattie. Dan and I talked about getting a playhouse. The other day I saw chance to win this and know I'm super excited. I know my chances to winning are between slim and none (that's just how things role for me) but I thought what the heck I'll give it a try.

www.realmomrealviews.blogspot

Updates

2010-08-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made the best dinner, at least I thought I did. I made a copy cat recipe of sweet pork from Costa Vida. Instead of burritos I served tacos with grated cheese and cabbage. I also made some spanish rice from a recipe I have but I added some diced tomatoes to it. In addition I made black beans. It was yummy and the kids ate everything even Micheal told me I did a good job and he went back for seconds. Mattie is having a hard time sleeping again tonight. She does this once in a while. She will cry out and fuss in her sleep. When you check on her she is sound asleep. There is nothing wrong with her it is something she does. I talked with other parents who have children with Down Syndrome and they all have the same issue. Some nights are better than others but it is hard to sleep when your child is crying and kicking the wall or side of the crib. She is a great little girl but I sometimes wonder when the horns will pop out. She loves to make messes and can be a little bossy. Today she kept telling David to "it", which is sit. Her vocabulary is getting better and I get so excited when she says something new. She is also figured how to take off he clothes and she has become the little nudist.

David is so busy and he can get so wild he will just run around the house laughing and then he will come up and push you. He can climb anything and is starting to figure out jumping. Sometimes he will count "done, due, dthee" and either jump or take off running. He is obsessed and I mean deeply obsessed with the vacuum cleaner and the steam mop. He will play with them non stop. When either on them get stuck he will sit and cry and scream until you come and help him. He then sucks that bottom lip in and off he goes again. If you try to move it or put it away he will run after you yelling "no no". His vocabulary is getting better and he knows words he just chooses not to say them. His favorite word the past few days is "o-ta". Also the other day I was doing something and I said crap. He started saying ap, ap. I thought oh-no but since that day he has not said it.

Together Mattie and David are constant. Into everything and you clean up one thing and then you turn around and it is something new. They love to climb into the bathtub and turn the water on. They also love the toilet and toilet paper. Both have figured out climbing and will use anything to push over to the counter or table to get on top. have found them on the half wall, the dresser and stove. I added a few pictures of their adventures. I thought I had put up all of the groceries put I missed the large carton of eggs. I was in another room and I kept hearing this noise but I thought he had my pad of paper. I did not worry about it and when I came out I saw the mess of eggs. It was not horrible at first until I picked him up and realized that he was sitting on eggs. Turns out it was mess to clean up. Of course David was excited when he saw the carpet cleaner and even took his turn helping.

Michael is great. He likes kindergarten and tells us about his day with other people and other kids but will not talk about what he learned or did that day. He also has informed that the maintenance guy is really cool because he fixes things and has a belt with tools on it. I saw him one day and told him what Michael said and he thought it was so cool. Michael is great with Mattie and David. I would be lost sometimes without Michael's help. He keeps them so busy and even if there are times he gets frustrated with them he still is very loving and will share a toy with them. He is really into airplanes and his favorite is the Stealth Fighter or F-117. Dan was given a collection of airplanes and we use them for rewards for Michael. The only rule is he can not play with the collection and has to keep them on the dresser. He has done great with them and every day he checks them. Michael's Grandpa Henney bought him a F-117 T-shirt and hat. He wears both of them all the time. He will wear the shirt and then reminds me to wash it so he can wear it again.

First Day of School

2010-07-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today was Michael's first day of Kindergarten and Mattie's first day back at pre-school. Michael did great and is really excited about school. I tried to get more pictures of him but it did not work out. Dan took Michael to his class and I took Mattie to her pre-school class which is a few doors down from Michael's classroom. Mattie did great also but we have had a little incident with her after she came home from pre-school. Long story short she has the beginnings of bronchitis. I noticed yesterday she had a little bit of a cough and it was the same this morning. After pre-school she went downhill pretty fast. She had a fever and was having a difficult time breathing. I called the doctor to speak to the nurse and she was able to fit us into a appointment this afternoon. Tonight she is doing much better and even found the time to bite David on his arm and it left a nasty mark. Since Michael has been home he is non-stop talk about kindergarten and all the things he learned today and he earned 3 stickers today from his teacher. Way to Go! He is so tried tonight and he fell asleep around 7.

David coming along for the ride.

Mattie with one of the class room aids.

Going into classroom with her walker.

Michael all set and ready to go. He has been waiting all summer to wear this shirt but I would not let him wear it. Every time he would see it in the closet he would always tell me that he really liked that shirt.

Whew.... What a Week

2010-06-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

This has been a rough week. Dan started is new work schedule and Michael, David and I all caught colds this past weekend. David and I are on the down end of it but poor Michael has had a terrible 3 days. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday and he has bronchitis. Tuesday night he woke up coughing really bad and he was having a hard time catching his breath and had strider. I ended up taking him to the ER and we stayed for about 4 and 1/2 hours. He had a strong breathing treatment and cold oxygen. For know he is doing better and is actually playing play-doh as I type. My goal is to keep him quiet, happy, fever free and not so many breathing treatments. This is the first time Michael has been so sick and his first hospital visit.

My other goal is to get David and Mattie to nap at the same time so I can lay down and catch a few zzz's. I realized I went to bed at 10 last night and woke up at midnight and have been up since then.

2010-06-23T23:10:00.001-07:00

About a month ago I was doing the after dinner clean up and David and Mattie were playing in the kitchen. I could hear David fussing and went to check on him. He was not in the kitchen with Mattie. I walked through the house calling him and when I walked backed into the kitchen this is what I saw.

Mattie had obviously closed the doors on David. I should explain that the kitchen draw broke and Dan took it out to fix it.

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One night Dan and Michael went out in the backyard and saw Chandler, our cat sitting next to something. Closer inspection it turned out to be a baby bunny rabbit. It seems that Chandler caught the rabbit. We are not sure if he brought the rabbit into the backyard or if it was already in the backyard. The rabbit had a little bite mark on it's back so Dan wrapped it up in a towel and I found a lady who takes in wild bunny rabbits. I'm not sure what happened to him but I did nickname her the crazy bunny rabbit lady. She kept telling me that the rabbit was showing signs of nerve damage and my cat bit it and because of the bite it will die. I kept thinking how it is part of the food chain and I noticed that she had many cats running around her property.

Michael's last day of pre-school

2010-06-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Mattie, she wanted so bad to sit next to Michael.

I love this picture of Michael and David

Michael had his pre-school graduation on May 28th. His teacher this year was Mrs. Marni and he loved going to pre-school. He learned so much and made so many new friends. Mrs. Marni told me that a few of the girls had a crush on Michael and they would say "oh there is Michael he is so beautiful", and they would fight over who would sit next to him. One of the mom's in the class told me that her daughter would always talk about Michael and would say "oh he is so cool because he wears his back-pack with the strap going across his chest". Which is funny because Michael never talked about any of the girls in the class. In fact he nevered talked about pre-school. I would ask him how school was and he would say fine then I asked him what he learned and he would always tell me nothing. So the week of his graduation we talked about how it was his last day and he told me he wanted to wear his suit. I told him that no one else was going to dress up but he insited on wearing it. So that night as we got ready he went and put his suit on. I have to say he was so dang handsome. He looks so grown up in it and during the graduation ceremony he sat so serious. One of my favirote moments of the night is when Mrs. Marni had each of the kids say something that they liked and then would give a flower to their mom or dad. Michael stood up and said " I just want to say that I love you". After the graduation was over Dan and I wear looking at the pictures on the wall and beneath each picture were questions that the kids answered.

Likes and Dislikes: Likes Noodles, Dislikes breaking things and getting owies.
When I grow up I want to be: A Gilbert Police Officer
So that I can: Be just like my DAD.

I'm just so amazed at how much Michael has grown and how just how much he pays attention to things and is so detailed and creative. The other night I was looking at his baby pictures and yes I'm sad because he is not the little tiny baby anymore but he has grown so much. He is just a amazing kid, who is smart, creative and funny and I'm so excited for his future and to see all the things he will accomplish and get to do as he grows older.

Mattie and Michael's Last day of Pre-school.

2010-06-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Mattie was able to attend pre-school for the past few months. It is a pre-school program designed for kids with disabilities. I was able to get a few pictures of her with 2 of the aids, Jackie and Jill. Mattie had so much fun and every time I would pick her up she would cry. On the last day she turned around and walked back into the classroom and started playing. She will start the same program in July and hopefully will have the same aids. The teacher she had moved to Kindergarten, and I'm hoping Michael will get her as his kindergarten teacher.

Mattie with Jackie

Mattie and Jill

Just a cute picture

Sparkly Clean Windows

2010-06-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Um... no I did not clean my windows but here is a chance to have yours cleaned. I Heart Mesa is doing a give away to have someone come and clean your windows for free. The rules, live in the East Valley (Arizona) and go to www.iheartmesa.blogspot and enter the contest.

New Blog- well sorta

2010-06-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

I've seen the blog before but until know I decided to share the information. It is called I heart mesa. Pretty cool site with information about what to do around Mesa and the surrounding cities, like Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale etc... This week there are guest post and even some cool giveaways. I should mention that I found the site one day looking for free stuff to do with my kids. I enjoy checking the site out and this week so many of my favorites places have been mentioned and well like I said it just brings back memories and a smile to my face. Maybe one frown. Interesting story won't share but if you ask me and give a little bribe, well I might just share. (Yes my husband knows the story and every time we drive by the place it automatically comes out of me about how much I hate that place).

Anyways, when you get a moment or two check it out

www.iheartmesa.blogspot.com

This is what happens when I forget to close the doors

2010-05-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Close up shot off the culprit!

Taught me a lesson.... always remember to close the doors to then den.

The Love Story

2010-05-19T22:05:00.001-07:00

There once was a young guy

And there once was a young girl

Who meet and dated (picture taken in Tucson)

And the one day he proposed to the young woman in front of the Laredo Church in Santa Fe, NM

And they were engaged

And then married

They use to do adventurous things like mountain repelling

And take out of state trips (this one is taken at the Christmas Village in Pigeon Ford, Tennessee)

And after a few years she became this

Then there were 3

And know they are a family

And today (May 20th) they are celebrating 8 years of marriage.

Moya-Moya Huh? What is that?

2010-05-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is a common question that we have been recently asked. When we first heard the term is was about a year ago (May 22, 2009). It was after Mattie had her strokes and the doctors at the time "suspected" she had a rare disease called Moya-Moya, it affects about 1 in 2 million. At first Dan and I could not comprehend it and we called it every name in the book from Maui-Maui to Mooey-Mooey. Over the past year Mattie has had one cerebral angiogram and recently a MRI/MRA. Last week she was officially diagnosed with the disease Moya-Moya.

So what does this mean?

Moya-Moya syndrome is a progressive disorder that affects the blood vessels in the brain. It causes stenosis (narrowing) of the carotid artery in the brain. The carotid artery is responsible for delivering blood to the brain. When the stenosis occurs, it makes it difficult for blood to pass throw the artery and the result is a stroke. At the same time tiny new blood vessels form and open up to attempt to supply blood to the brain. These tiny vessels are called Moya-Moya. Moya-Moya is a Japanese word for "puff of smoke". On a brain scan these tiny vessels look like a puff of smoke. As stated in the beginning it is a progressive disorder and there is no cure for it and as patients get older who are diagnosed with Moya-Moya they will eventually experience side affects because there brain is not getting enough blood. Such side affects are headaches, TIA's (mini-strokes), major strokes, bleeding on the brain, numbness and seizures.

There are a few surgeries that can be performed to help with re-directing the blood flow to the brain and the surgery would help with reducing the side affects of the disease.

Mattie will eventually have the surgery we are just not sure when it will happen and more than likely she will have side affects to Moya-Moya but we don't know when. It could happen today, tomorrow or 3 years from know. My husband likes to describe it has a little bomb in her head and we never know when it will go off. Of course Mattie is so young and because communication is hard for her she may have experienced something but we don't know. It is up to Dan and I to watch her and her behavior to make sure she is acting ok and if we suspect anything seriously wrong we are to take her to the hospital.

From what I understand the surgeries have been very successful and allow patients of Moya-Moya to live normal lives.

The other questions we get is how did she get it?

The answer to this question is we don't know and no one knows. It is known that the disease is genetically hereditary in the Japanese cultural but what causes it is unknown.

Mattie has secondary Moya-Moya and that means that the disease occur ed because she has another underlying genetic condition, which for her is Down-Syndrome. With this there was something in her brain that just did not form correctly.

There are also healthy people who all of sudden experience some problems and they are diagnosed with Moya-Moya, it could basically happen to you. The chances are rare but it could happen. The chance for Mattie to get Moya-Moya is one in 2 million. Crazy Huh!

At this time Mattie is doing great and we feel that she has not had any side affects. She has re-gained the use of her left side and is showing great strength and use of the left side. She takes 1/2 tablet of low dose aspirin every day to help keep her blood thin. She has another MRI/MRA in 6 months to see if there has been any changes with the Moya-Moya vessels and the stenosis of the artery.

So that is the update on Mattie and what is going on with her and our family. It is something that is very hard to understand and there are numerous times during the day that we think about it. We just never know what the next step will be. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. It is a new learning experience for us and questions are what helps us learn and get to know the disease a little bit better.

Yard work

2010-05-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend we all headed outside to do some work in the backyard. Dan taught Michael how to mow the lawn and he really enjoyed, except I realized the picture of him he has a scowl on his face so it looks like he does not like it. David loves the lawn mower and follows it around laughing and screaming. Mattie tolerates it but she hung out on the patio the entire time playing with her garden set. I did not get any pictures of the garden but it is hanging in there. The biggest thing is the zucchini. This week we have pulled 6 giant zucchini's from one plant. We have had a few raspberries and blueberries. I planted spinach early this year and it has done really well and we have been eating that. Also we have had about 5 cucumbers in the past two weeks. Overall everything is growing but I wish it was doing better. The tomatoes are having a hard time. I have gotten a few tomatoes but many of them are still green and I had to trim a lot of brown of the bushes. I honestly think it is because of the cooler the weather we were having. I'm hoping that since it is getting hotter the plants will produce some more.

David in action chasing the lawn mower.

I honestly have no clue why he has a scowl on his face. He honestly liked mowing the lawn. (Notice my pretty flowers in the background)

Another action photo of David chasing the lawn mower. FYI that is apple tree and a grape bush in the background.

Taking a rest from all of the chasing.

Mattie hanging out with mom.

Bathtime Bubbles

2010-05-16T21:32:00.001-07:00

David loves bath time and he really likes bubbles to the point that he will eat them. I was finally able to catch a few pictures of David playing with the bubbles.

Fishing Trip

2010-05-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

Dan, Michael and Grandpa Hurd (Dan's dad) all went on a fishing trip a few weeks ago (May 7 to be exact) at Canyon Lake. They did not catch any fish but Michael did catch a bush, which he thought was pretty funny.

Mattie's Third Birthday

2010-04-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (Monday) was Mattie's third birthday. Dan and I blew up balloons and put them in her room. She did not see them until I went in to get her from the crib. She peeked through the slats in the crib and made her excited face. The kids are having a blast playing with all of the balloons. At pre-school Mattie brought Chocolate Chip Cookies to share with her class and the teacher made her a Happy Birthday Crown. After Michael's T-ball game we came home for a Spaghetti dinner and then cake, ice cream and presents. Mattie and David were so tired from the long and day and neither one napped. So the birthday celebration went pretty fast. For her birthday she got a wooden rocking chair and a cradle and changing table for her baby dolls.

It is hard to tell but they are dancing in this picture. David and Mattie's version of dancing is moving your arms around. Every once in a while you can get David to stand and he will rock back and forth.

I want to take the time to write a little bit about Mattie. Her favorite word is that. She can also say cat,dad,mama, want that, bye, hi, and done. She can also sign, more, please, drink, eat, baby, night-night, hi, bye,no and all done. She is still learning to walk and about a month ago she got a walker and that has really helped her. Mattie is very friendly and loving and waves hi every where we go. If we are at a stop light she will wave to the car next to us. She also stands at the TV and waves to the people on TV. On Tuesdays we go into town for her therapy session and when she walks into the waiting room she stops and waves at everyone before she walks over to me. Mattie loves music and dancing. She recently learned "patty cake" and through out the day she will start doing it on her. Mattie loves her brothers. She thinks the world of Michael and is always laughing at him and of course the times that she will scream at him. She also loves "baby" David and together we call them "frick and frat". They are pretty much always together and they both know how to cause problems and messes like you would not believe. There are many times I hang my head in disbelief. There is never a dull moment with Mattie. She is so precious and over the 3 years has over come many things. Mattie is tough, strong, and never gives up. Oh I should mention that Mattie absolutely hates her hair combed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Saturday Mattie had a birthday party with family and friends. Dan and I did not take any pictures except when we sang Happy Birthday to her. There is also a picture of David with a bottle of Coke. He quickly figured out how to drink soda out of glass bottle and we had a heck of a time getting it from him.

Can you believe

2010-04-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

That today I turn the big number 3!

My little secret

2010-04-25T22:07:00.001-07:00

THIS

PLUS ANOTHER BOOK

AND THIS SWEET LITTLE TREAT

EQUALS PURE RELAXATION AND WHAT KEEPS ME SANE!

Mattie's First Day of Pre-School

2010-03-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Monday was Mattie's first day of pre-school. She is in a pre-school program that is designed for children with disabilities. Mattie did great at school and she used her walker. When she got inside the classroom a little boy came over to her and one of the aids was talking to her. Dan and I said goodbye to her and she waived at us and continued on with her business. Of course over the weekend one of the straps on her orthotics broke and her glasses broke, and that is why she is not wearing either one. I do not have any shoes for her and I knew I could not send her barefooted to school. Thank goodness I remembered that my sister-in-law gave me some clothes and shoes for Mattie and I found a pair that fits her perfectly. Thanks Debbie for saving the day.

Walking to the classroom. She is suppose to be wearing shorts but they are long on her and look like pants.

Waiving goodbye

Coming out of the classroom. Check out her backpack.

Waiving to me when she saw me standing at the gate to pick her up.

Michael's First T-Ball Game

2010-03-30T13:51:00.001-07:00

Saturday was Michael's first t-ball game. Michael was the catcher for this game. All week Michael has been asking for Lobster. He has never had lobster but he kept seeing the commercial for Red Lobster on TV. We surprised him after the game and took him to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner.

Sunshine and Butterflies

2010-03-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today I have a ache in my heart. This week has been a long week because I have had to emotionally prepare myself for this day. Today came and I handled it well but today I had to say goodbye to a wonderful lady named Irene. For almost 3 years, since Mattie was 4 months old, Irene has been coming to our house weekly to visit Mattie. Irene is a Developmental Specialist and because of Mattie's cognitive delay Irene was provided to Dan and I to help us with Mattie through the state system. It is hard to explain but Irene is sorta like a crutch that you need to help you through the system and to help you raise a child with a disability. Irene taught Dan and I skills and gave us information and ideas when it came to Mattie's development. She would come and play with Mattie and always had a new toy or idea for her. She was always ready to answer our questions and listen to our concerns. When Mattie was in the hospital for 3 weeks she checked on us every day to see how she was doing. Irene played, spoke and loved Mattie like she was her own. She also always acknowledged Michael and David. Irene has become a huge part of our family. She has become a bright star in our lives, a good friend and has been through a lot with us. She has seen Mattie's "first times", illnesses, family deaths, pregnancies and births. I have loved getting to know her and hearing about her family. She is excellent photographer, loves nature, the outdoors and travel. She also likes to garden and cook. Everyday she drives from Superior to come and visit her families. Under state guidelines when a child turns 3 or enters the preventive pre-school program you lose your Developmental Specialist. Mattie will start pre-school on Monday. It is time for a new chapter in our lives, Mattie is growing up, starting school and technically is becoming a big girl. I realize that us losing Irene is sad and she will be dearly missed but it is also good because it means that another family will gain her and learn from her and be blessed with her knowledge and love. Today she told me that she already has a new family, a 4 month old boy with Down Syndrome. With our last progress note that she left she wrote a message to Mattie and our family. The last line said "May your days be filled with sunshine and butterflies for Mattie to enjoy".

Spring into the 2010 Garden

2010-03-23T20:19:00.001-07:00

Ha Ha get it spring into the garden. I know corny. Anyways if anybody has called or stopped by the house you know that part of February and March Dan and I have been busy in the garden. This year Dan built 4 new box gardens. We put the peach tree in one box. The other 3 were used for various things. One box is dedicated to different types of tomatoes (6 total plus 4 in a different container from Fall). Another one is for various vegetables. The last one is for the Blueberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry plants. In addition we have our previous boxes that are growing various vegetables and the big garden in the ground. This year in the ground garden I planted 4 rows of corn and green beans, Zucchini, Cantaloupe and Cucumber. Dan is going to build one more box garden but it will be bigger and that is where we will plant the Watermelon. Everything is growing and blossoming, even the apple trees and grapes. If you can't tell I'm really excited about all of it. Everyday I go outside and look for new progress. Michael has joined in and has become the official water garden guy. Mattie and David just like to play in everything.

Michael and a pincher bug. After I took the picture he told me it pinched him.

The big garden and a box garden with various things growing. Also the black container is a composter.

Last box farthest away is the tomato box (6 plants). Closer to the front in the green container are more tomatoes from the Fall season. In between everything are the berry plants and more vegetable boxes.

Peach Tree and Strawberry Plants

My little helpers-David was taking a nap

2010-03-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

My 8 year old niece, Regean has been playing the violin for a year and her teacher thought it would be fun for her to put on a recital. She did a great job and was not even a bit nervous about it.

Regean

My dad and David. This is who David is named after. I should explain that David is my dad's middle name and Wayne which is David's middle name is the other Grandpa's middle name (Dan's dad)

Together with the family

2010-03-23T17:37:00.001-07:00

My niece Mylie

David and the balloon that kept the kids entertained

Dan and Michael

Center is Uncle Jim, Left is my mom, Right is Linda (Uncle Jim's wife)

The guy with the mustache is Coleman, next to him is my mom and my nephew Lane

Mattie-Oh look at that face. She ate a entire(kids plate) of Ravoli's plus some of my dinner.

In February my cousion Coleman, who is orginally from Mesa but know lives in California was in town for work. We were able to get together for dinner one night with him. My Uncle Jim and his wife Linda were able to join us. Due to personal family reasons I have not seen my Uncle in many years and maybe in the past year he and my mom have rekindled their friendship. I have to mention that Dan was able to be with us since he did not have to work that night. The only person missing that night was my brother who was at work. We ate a Demi's at Power and Williamsfield and had a wonderful time. There were 12 of us total and so the ownder sat us in a room that was to ourselves. The kids had a great time with each other and the adults laughed so much and talk about the old times.

Gold Canyon Candle Giveaway

2010-03-19T22:13:00.001-07:00

Kelly form This and That is hosting a Gold Canyon Candle Giveway. Check it out and enter for a chance to win a Pomegranate Candle.

http://kellis-thisandthat.blogspot.com/2010/03/gold-canyon-candle-giveaway

Valentines Day

2010-03-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo for Valentines Day. I was a slacker and did not take any pictures expect for the above picture. David was not even in the picture but I promise he was there. It was nice to get out and walk around and look at everything. For dinner that night Dan did take-out from Texas Roadhouse.

mr. bubbalicious

2010-02-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

I need to write about David before I forget stuff. I also like to write in my journal but sometimes I forget information. I want to share a story real quick a few weeks ago I was filling some developmental paperwork out for Mattie. One of the question was when did she start crawling and I could not remember when she did. I took out my journal and could not find it. So I started going through the blog and I got my answer. I was so glad that I documented it and so proud that as a mom I could answer every question with a answer that was accurate. Anyways....

A few of David's nick names are bubbalicious, bull dozer and WWB. David is growing up so fast he turned 15 months in February. I love him so much and call him my bubbalicious baby. He has these cute little solid legs and thighs and they are ticklish. There are days that I feel like I can not get enough of him. David is very strong willed and determined to get what he wants. He is my mess maker and into everything. He loves to play with Mattie and Michael. At this time he spends a lot of time with Mattie and together they are into everything. If Mattie is in another room and she cries he is the first to check it out. The both have this little call that they do to each other. When will make the sound and then the next one will do it. Sometimes you can hear it in the morning when they are waking up. We call David the WWB (World Wrestling Baby). He comes up to who ever sitting on the ground and push them down and lays on top. Of course with this being said we also call him bulldozer because he crawls over us, climbs us and any other object in the way.Last week he figured out to climb the top of the back part of the couch. He will sit there and look at us and starts bouncing. Each time my heart does a flip. This week I was reading a book while eating breakfast. I looked up to see him sitting on top of the kitchen table. David has a great appetite and will eat anything. With that being said Dan and I often joke that he must have taken a "how to gross your parents out" class before his spirit came to earth. Without details there have been many gross moments. David has a great belly laugh. As a baby he was really cranky but as he got older he has become so much happier and laughs at everything. David is a very hard to hold and rock but does love a quick hug and cuddle before he is off on adventure again.

I will ask David for a kiss. He will smack his lips together and then give you a kiss with a open mouth.

David is not fully walking but in the past week he has taken more steps and can walk about 20-30 steps before he decides crawling is the better way to go. He has big feet and his pair of shoes is a size 6.

He does not say many words but will say Mama when he wants something (food). He can say Dada, Hot and that. (Mattie's favorite word is that).

He loves to play pattie cake, twinkle twinkle little star and peek a boo.

I love the fact that in shirts he needs a size 18 months but pants are 12 months. He has a long torso but short waist and legs.

I love pictures of him because he is always smiling. He has the best grin showing his teeth. (7 total 4 on top 3 on the bottom and more on the way)

I have to say that Davids not so best trait is sleeping. He still will wake up at night and fuss. Usually it is nothing but every once in a while something is wrong.

So there is David at 15 months. I'm just amazed at how much kids change in such a short amount of time. I feel that time is precious with them and I don't want to miss anything.

Mattie's First Haircut

2010-02-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

I finally did it but I took Mattie to get her first haircut. I took me a long time to do it because her hair is so special to me and it was long, down to the middle of her back. Her hair is really fine but was not even. I had it cut just below her shoulder bone and is one length. I can still put it up in those cute little pig tails that I love so much on her. Of course 5 minutes later she pulls them out. It is easier to comb and not so many tangles. I was worried with how she would act but she was great and never even cried.

New Glasses

2010-02-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

In January we learned that David can not see very well and that he needed glasses. The eye doctor said that he does not recommend them at this young age but because he basically can not see that we should try it. He looks really cute in them but is not a big fan of wearing them. So he and Mattie both wear glasses. Mattie is getting better at wearing hers but she also likes to try and take David's glasses from him.

Christmas 2009

2010-02-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas was small and sweet this year. Dan worked Christmas Eve and Christmas day/night. For Christmas Eve I took the kids around town to look at Christmas lights. All of the kids fell asleep so I guess I drove around looking at Christmas lights. After one neighborhood I headed home and spent the rest of the night watching movies and eating mexican food thanks drive thru at Filberto's. David was the first one up on Christmas morning around his usual 6 am time and Michael followed him. Soon after Mattie woke up and it was time to open presents. After we did our presents, Grandma and Grandpa Hurd stopped by with their load of toys and then they had breakfast with us. I made a ham for lunch and then Dan was off to work. My sister-in-law came over with my nieces and nephew and we hung out for the rest of the day. My brother was also working on Christmas day. The Saturday after Christmas we were all able to get together and do our little family dinner and gift exchange. This year the adults did a ornament exchange. Dan's ornament was a U of A glass ball and if any one knows my family, can testify that my family is huge ASU fans. Dan of course is a U of A fan. My brother was the lucky winner of the U of A ornament and it was pretty funny to see his face when he saw it. To bad I did not get a picture of it.

2009 Auto Show

2010-02-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

This year after Thanksgiving Dan and I made our traditional trip to the auto show that is held at the Phoenix Convention Center. This year it was much smaller but we still had lots of fun. Jeep had a miniature drive track that allowed you to ride in a jeep vehicle with a professional driver. Dan and I did it twice. It was a lot of fun and really made us want a 4 door jeep even more. Dan and I dream about owning a jeep and many times have come close to buying one but when you have 3 small kids all in car seats.... it just does not work out. So for know I guess the mini-van will have to do. I should mention that the pictures of us riding in the jeep are on Dan's mom and dad's camera. There is one shot of us on our camera. We did convince Dan's mom and dad to go on the course. Also the day we went was kids day and guess who was there to meet the kids. No other than the one and only Spider-Man. Michael was so excited to meet him. He still carries around the autographed card that Spider-Man gave him.

"Awesome Spidey Fingers"

Mom, Mattie, and Michael checking out a convertible.

Can't see us but we are there

On the way to the auto show

2010-01-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

This drawing is printed in the Sunday edition of the Arizona Republic. The cartoonist, Steve Benson has worked for Gilbert PD for many years as a reserve officer.

I want my haircut like Peter Venkman

2010-01-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Since last October Michael has had this thing for Ghostbusters. For Halloween in 2008 Dan and I found a Ghostbuster costume at Savers and he was a Ghostbuster for Halloween. Dan rented the movie for him and ever since then he has been obsessed with Ghostbusters. He loves to watch the movie and he likes to play that he is catching the ghost. Well a few months ago I went to get his haircut and I asked him how he wanted his hair and he told me like Peter Venkman. Since then he has mentioned a few times that when I comb his hair he wants it to look like Peter Venkman. Today he combed his hair for school and when he came out of the bathroom it was all combed towards the front (I should have taken a picture). I told him he did a good job combing his hair and he asked me "Do I look like Peter Venkman". Of course I had to say yes.

Movie vs Book

2010-01-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

If anyone has talked to me about books you will know that My Sisters Keeper is on the top of my recommendation list. I've been really wanting to see the movie since I read the book in May and I was unable to see it in the movie theater. I've had the movie on my netflix list for months and still is listed as a long wait. So a few nights ago Dan rented My Sisters Keeper for me. So finally after all the kids are snug in bed and I killed a scorpion that was walking across the living room floor, I finally was able to watch the movie. The book had a very different ending than the movie and there were so many changes. In the book the attorney would always make little jokes about why his dog is a service dog and they only did a few little jokes in the movie. There is also a scene that involves the attorney in the courtroom and in the movie they move the scene to the hallway of the courthouse. In the book the brother of the two sisters, does something to get attention for himself and in the movie it was completely left out. The Judge in the movie is a female and in the book it is a male. Also in the book there is a role of a court appointed guardian ad litem and there was no role of guardian ad litem in the movie. Also there is parts of the book where the sister who is trying to get he medical emancipation develops a special relationship with her father and in the movie this is not shown.

I have to say that I was really disappointed about the movie since there was so many changes. I really liked the ending in the book and that is what made it good a story. Yes, it is a sad book and so is the movie. What I don't understand is why Hollywood have to change so much. I know this is not the first time it has happened, but why do good stories have to be torn to shreds by Hollywood.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just wishing everyone a happy new year and good luck with your new year resolutions. I decided I have way to many.

So did anyone make it to midnight! I went over to a friends house for a little party and made it until 9:30. I was hoping that David and Mattie would fall asleep but no such luck. Thanks Janelle for the yummy popcorn and dip. When we got home Michael said he was not tired and wanted to watch a movie he was asleep by 10:00 but woke up in the middle of the night crying because he wanted to finish his movie.

OH I forgot to mention that I'm no longer without a computer. Dan and I bought one this week. Thanks to my mom who watched the kids while we went shopping for a computer it was much easier with out them.

Computer Whoes

2009-12-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

A quick post to let everyone know that my computer is out of commission. If anyone needs me quickly can you please give me a call. Dan and I hope to get a new computer soon.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Happy Birthday To Me

2009-12-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 33. Yikes! It was a normal day with a few freebies thrown into the mix. Michael had pre-school, Mattie had therapy and a doctors appointment with her ENT. I really like her ENT and he hung around after examining her and we talked a few minutes about Christmas and family members that you really don't want to spend time with. He told me about his dad and how he is old and cranky and bossy and there is only one right way. He kept asking me about all 3 kids and how I do it. I shared with him my disaster story last night and how I had to let the kids crawl around in the cold garage while I emptied out the entire chest freezer because it broke. After her appointment we went to Krispy Kreme to get a free dozen of donuts. After that I went to the mall and did a little window shopping. I meet Dan for a early dinner at Joe's BBQ, were of course you get a free meal on your birthday. Dan had to leave early because he had a call. I left right after him because the kids (Mattie and David) were getting fussy and Mattie kept yelling "dada". I came home to a semi-messy house. Got the kids settled and ready for bed. Michael and I watched the most lamest Christmas cartoon. It was about Rudolph and he was sent to look for happy. I lost track when they were celebrating the 4th of July. Like I said boring so I worked on my massive pile of laundry. I know exciting. Hey my husband surprised me with a funny card and a bag of mini-snickers. He told me I can put it in the freezer. Funny! Last week he noticed that the sewing machine I've been wanting since summer had a rebate on it. He told me to go and get it, so I made the mad dash to the store last Friday to buy it. What a guy! I was so excited but of course know I have not found the time to use it. I always feel like the household stuff needs to come first. Of course I always think I'm going to use it at night after the kids are in bed but I always end up falling asleep on the couch. Maybe this weekend. So there you have there is my 33rd birthday.

Oh I should add that I celebrated with my mom and brother and his family on Saturday. My mom made her famous tacos anybody who knows my mom will know what I'm talking about. My mom made me a really cute Christmas wreath and well I don't want to give away what she did. Maybe if you come over I will show it to you.

Dear Santa

2009-12-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is for stuff to stop breaking. So far this year we bought a new car, dryer, dishwasher and know the chest freezer broke. Please Mr. Santa please I don't think I can take anything else breaking.

I promise I will be good.

David'sFirst Birthday Party

2009-12-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

Cake time!

Blwing out the candle

The cake

The Birthday party crowd

Opening Gifts

The Sunday following David's Birthday he had his party. Dan grilled hotdogs, brats and hamburgers. It was small but lots a fun. My cousion came with his 2 little boys. They live on the opposite side of the state ok.... Glendale to be exact but it is such a long drive it might as well be the other side of the state. It was a great party and David had fun. I made David's cake which was a Red Velvet cake. David loved it. He dug right into it. Michael had fun that morning helping me decorate with streamer and of course Mattie had fun pulling it all down.

The Big Reveal....It's all about Sarah

2009-12-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday (December 1) I had the opportunity to have the Sarah Palin book "Going Rogue" autographed. I've never did anything like this before and I thought why not. She is interesting to me and the fact that she has a baby with Down Syndrome, I guess I feel like we have something in common. Anyways I went with Dan's mom and I took Mattie with me. We got in line at 9 AM and she was to appear at 11:00 AM at the Costco in Tempe. She arrived at 10:30 and soon the line started to move and then stop and then it would move again. We were about 100 feet from the entrance door and it was announced that right know she has signed 750 books which is 250 more than originally planned. They are waiting to see if she wants to sign more. We were told 50 maybe a 100 more. About 20 minutes later the Costco worker came out and was told to keep the line moving. The next thing I'm walking in the door and handed a card with the number 816 on it. I was # 816...WOW! The first thing I hear is the Lee Greenwood song "God Bless America", I though cool they are playing music. Before you get to the signing table you put your purse on 1 table and then they take the book from you and your walk to the table were she is at. You are not to have anything on you, no purse, bags, jackets etc.. and your hands must be out and shown. I'm standing in line looking at her and the next song on is Toby Keith "Courtesy of the Red,White and Blue" and Mattie starts waving her hands in the air and then a few photographers start taking her picture. The next thing you know I'm standing in front of Sarah Palin and she shakes my hand and says thank you for coming and then says "Oh who is this". I said this is my daughter Mattie. She stands up and asked "Can I hold your baby, will she let me hold her". I tell her yes and hand Mattie to her. She asked about her glasses and if she keeps them on and I told her no, she is always taking them off and losing them. In fact this is our second pair this year. She laughs and told me her son is the same way that it is a constant battle. She asked about her leg braces and what they do. I explain the braces to her and she asked does it help and I tell her yes that she will take little steps if we help her. She then said "my son Trig is here and I want you to meet him". In fact my mom and dad are here and I want you to meet them as well. She hands Mattie back to me and tells me thank you. She then tells her security guard that I'm to meet her family. He gets a Costco worker and then I'm being escorted off to the side. This man comes up to me and says "Hi, I'm Sarah's dad" We talk for a minute and then her mom comes up and he introduces Mattie and I to her. Then Sarah's mom and the Costco worker takes us through the store and upstairs to a room were Trig is with some friends of Sarah who live in the valley and are watching him during the event. We hang out for about 30-40 minutes and Mattie and Trig at first just stared at each other. He blew a raspberry and Mattie did it back. They do this a few times and then he finally crawls off and Mattie follows him. They started playing together with some of his toys. I talk to one of her friends for a while and then Sarah's mom comes in and said that Sarah wants Trig and that it was time for them to go. I pick up Mattie and thank everyone and say our good byes.

So here is the story of Mattie and I having to the chance to meet Sarah Palin and Mattie being able to play with Trig. Oh and if you don't believe this story below are some pictures to prove it. I have to say I was so impressed with her kindness and honestly the love she had towards Mattie. To ask to hold Mattie was huge to me. I could not believe it happened and did not expect it at all. When people were coming out of the store everyone said it was fast and she was answer a question or two but it was very short and the line keeps moving. It was truly an amazing day.

AR Designs Blog Giveaway

2009-12-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a cute give away for jewlery.

http://www.ardesigns.blogspot.com

A little scare and coming soon...................

2009-12-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Something huge happened but I won't post about it until Thursday or Friday. I have to wait for the pictures. Stay tuned for my exciting day! In the meantime here is a little story to tell. Early Saturday morning around 3 am I woke up to a noise in the house. I listened again and sure enough I heard someone in the kitchen cabinet. I woke Dan up and told him that someone was in the house. He sat up and listened and we heard more noises. So we crept out of the bedroom (I was behind him) and noticed the dining room light on and could see the kitchen light on. Dan whispered to me that he turned those lights off last night before he went to bed. We crept down the hall and around the corner. All of sudden around the corner where we were standing comes Michael carrying a cup of water. He looked up at us and said "I just needed a drink of water". Poor little guy he was so scared. To tell the truth we were all equally scared and after I got my heart to stop racing I was able to get a decent night sleep until 7 am. Yea for my little late sleepers.

That is all I have to share for know. I have more stuff to follow and will slowly do it over the next few days but Thursday night or Friday morning will be the big reveal!

Terrible, Terrible Mom

2009-11-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

I did it, I did the ultimate bad mom thing and I feel horrible. Yesterday I was at Costco and I needed 2 things. David can get out the straps in the front part of the cart and I've had to many close calls were I will turn around and he is standing. So I put David in the basket part and pulled the cart with him next to me. Anyways I was at checkout and I was holding David but I needed to get something from the bottom. I sat David in the basket part bent down and I heard a thump. Laying flat on his back in front of me is David. I yell "Oh Crap" and pick him up and start looking all over his body and head and I don't see anything and then I see it.. a big red bump on the top part of his head. He cried for a few minutes and then he stopped crying but had the death grip on my shirt. As I pulled out of the parking lot David was already asleep. I thought Oh-No. I get home call Dan and we both agree to that I should have him checked out. I took him to the PCH Urgent care. After looking him over it was determined that he looks great.

So there you have it I did the ultimate bad mom thing and I feel horrible. I felt a little better when the doctor told me she has 3 boys and the same thing has happened to her.

Giveaway

2009-11-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Check out this cute blog giveaway:

http://kellis-thisandthat.blogspot.com

Happy Happy Birthday David

2009-11-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

Can't take pictures of just one. This is Mattie after dinner. This is the usual messy face.

Michael wearing his favorite thing...Ghostbuster costume. We found this last year at Savers around Halloween time. He was a ghostbuster last year and from then on he is obsessed with Ghostbusters and Ghost.

David after dinner which was pizza and some brownies. Yum!

This was taken birthday morning. I made oatmeal for breakfast. Michael's bowl was still on the table and I came into the kitchen and this is what I saw. Somehow David was able to move the bowl from the table to the chair and he was eating it. What amazed me was he does not let go so with one hand he moved the bowl without breaking anything.

My little guy turned one on Thursday. It was a uneventful day but he did get to enjoy some chocolate & vanilla yogurt at Costco. For dinner he had pizza and a brownie. Below is for my record but here are some facts about David.

1. February of 2009 when he first smiled. David was a cranky colic baby and I remember jumping up and down at him and saying "boo". After numerous attempts I finally got him to crack and give me a smile. I remember thinking I finally did it and he thinks I'm funny.
2. In July is when he started crawling but would stand and pull himself to stand before crawling.
3. He has 7 teeth total and it gives him the cutest smile.
4. He will babble dada and mama but will only say mama when I have food or his bottle.
5. He loves to be held and follows me through out the house. Only a few times out of the day can I be separated from him.
6. He plays great with Mattie and Michael. The play time goes from crawling on Michael and Mattie to playing in the toy house. He loves to play peek a boo.
7. He has the loudest scream!
8. I think he looks like Dan but Dan thinks he looks like me. Dan has this expression where he can crease his forehead and David does the same thing.
9. He loves to eat and is not a picky eater.
10. He shares a room with his big brother and every morning wakes him up by standing at the crib yelling.
11. Likes to go into a room, close the door and then stick his fingers under the door while "calling out to us". When we open the door he smiles and laughs and the closes the door.
12. Has the best laugh.
13. He can get out of the straps that are in the grocery cart. Yes I'm the terrible parent who does not strap her kids in because there is no point. I have tried numerous times and each time I will turn around and he is standing up. I usually use the stroller. I push the stroller and pull the cart behind me. (Have you seen me at the store, I must admit it is a sight to see).
14. He loves the vacuum cleaner.
15. He is starting to get protective of Mattie. He will do little things like put his arm on her or over her when they are in the stroller together.

The pictures say it all.....

2009-11-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Ruth, who is a friend took some pictures of the kids. Below are just a few of what she took. I love the pictures and the expressions along with the curiosity and personality.

Tighty Whities

2009-11-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is one of those pictures that will haunt your child when they are older. The other night Mattie was playing with the clothes in the laundry basket. She was playing with Michael's underwear and kept putting them on her feet. I decided to put a pair on her and this is what she looks like.

Halloween

2009-11-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

This year Dan & I took the kids trick-or-treating at Dan's mom and dad's house. Mattie and David would not sit still for the pictures and Mattie had a hat that matched the tie but the hat was missing. Yesterday I found it underneath the living room couch. (I've should have known to look since that is were everything ends up) Hopefully I will get a picture of her in the hat because she looks so cute. I should add that David and Mattie were clowns and Michael was Batman. All 3 kids loved trick-or-treating. Dan and I took turns pulling Mattie and David in the wagon. David as usual had no expression just watched everything in awe. Mattie waved at everyone and laughed when someone put candy in her bucket. If you stuck your hand in her bucket she would swipe it away. Michael loved it but when we told him we were all done he said "yippee... I'm finally done" and ran into the house. I think he wanted to play with his new monsters trucks that his grandma and grandpa bought him. It was a wonderful night!

That night the kids stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house so Dan and I could attend a Halloween party. They are some friends of Dan's through work. Every year they have a unbelievable Halloween party. The theme for their party this year was "The Grinch that stole Halloween". Dan and I originally had a great costume idea but it fell through because I was unable to find a dress or costume for my character. We ended up going as a Pilot and Flight Attendant. I had a basket with peanut packages and handed them out at the party. I don't have many pictures of the party but hopefully I can get some from other people, I want the picture of Dan and I sitting on Santa's lap (Santa did not wear red he wore black)