Rodeo break

Here in AZ, Rodeo Days are such a big deal that we get 2 days off of school which I think is funny that it is more important than presidents Day but what do I know. I love having the days to sleep in though and not worry about homework for the kids. So here is what we did over our break:

Thursday night Caitlin had her friend Anne come over. They have been begging for a sleep over and us moms felt they are still to young so we had a "pretend" sleep over. Anne came over around 5. I thought they would want to watch a movie but they had more fun just playing dress-up and barbies.

Friday night Camerons friend, Chris, from school came over for an actual sleep-over. This was the first time that Cameron has had a friend do that. He was soooo excited! They mostly played wii, chased each other around the house and ate junk food. I don't think there was much sleeping involved though. I went to bed around 11 and they were still up talking and when I got up at 6 they had been up for awhile already

Saturday morning, time for another 5k. This is the 4th one that I have done now. I actually really like doing them, it's a good distance and a fun group to run with each time. Hopefully, I can get better each time. When I got home I took the kids up to the clubhouse for some rodeo activities that they had. The lines were all really long and it was so windy out. Cameron did have fun riding the mechanical bull and he did pretty good. They did some jumping castles, went in the mini petting zoo and had some yummy shaved ice.

Sunday we woke up to snow on our car, which is so crazy to see but so fun. I hope it is still there when the rest of the kids wake up so we can have a snowball fight-ha!

This was very wordy and I can't believe the weekend is already over:( at least spring break is right around the corner.

where has the time gone

I haven't checked my blog in forever. I was just looking at a bunch of posts from the past year and I miss blogging. I guess I have gotten sucked into the facebook but my goal for 2011 is to start back up with the blogging and less facebooking:) So..... if you see me, ask when I am going to update. I need to be held accountable friends! It is so fun to look back at old posts and see the kids and read the funny things they said or did.

caitlins 4th bday

Well, our little princess turned 4 yrs. old on June 23rd. It seemed to have snuck up on me this year and so the day before I asked a couple of her best friends if they could come over the next day for lunch and cake. She only wanted girls this year so it worked out perfectly to do it on her actual bday and have lunch. Luckily everyone was available. I made a cake the night before. I also took her out the night before to get her ears pierced and to get a new bike.

Caitlin makes us laugh everyday. She has a very strong personality and knows exactly what she wants in life. I don't worry about her too much. She has brought such joy and laughter to our family and we can't imagine our family without her. We love you so much little princess!!!!

MN trip-May 2010

tire swings were a hit!!!

feeding the geese in fergus falls where my parents live.

visiting the huge pelican

down by the lake with cousin Peter

Paul Bunyan and Babe in Bemidji where one of my sisters live.

grandma and caitlin at the science center

cameron loved the snakes at the science center but Kris was very intent on us not bringing it home with us.

some of the cousins that were able to go to Itasca with us.

crossing the mississipi headwaters

this dog will play fetch until he collapses.

smores by the bonfire

this kept caitlin entertained the entire plane ride

The kids and I took a trip to Mn to see my side of the family. I have not been back there in over 5 years(Cody was a baby). Cameron was the only one who has flown before so I was a little nervous taking the 3 of them on the plane by myself but they all did so good. One man told me that the kids were really good on the plane but my little girl sure talks a lot; it was non-stop talking on a non-stop flight. We were there for 9 days and seemed like we packed a lot into those days. We had a bonfire, went to Itasca and walked across the mississippi headwaters, visited my other sister on Tuesday and Wednesday and went to the science center where she works(Camerons favorite thing). We went to my parents house on Thursday so the kids could see where they live and play on the tire swing. It was a busy few days helping my sister get ready for a graduation party at her house for 2 of their sons who graduated this year. My brothers daughter also graduated so there were lots of parties over the weekend. Memorial day was spent back at my parents house again, the kids were fascinated with the creek and also a turtle who was laying eggs. We had so much fun running around and visiting family and watching the kids experience grass,trees that could be climbed, so many lakes, frogs, woodticks, deer, a bear cub and even poison ivy. I sure hope to get back there before another 5 years pass by. I hope to get pictures posted but my camera is acting up:(

5K

So, a friend of mine had a flyer on her fridge about an upcoming 5K for her daughters school. I asked her if she was going to participate in it and she said she was thinking about it and I told her I would do it with her. Neither of us has run in a VERY long time and this run was to take place the following weekend. We only did one 3 mile run/walk the next day. The day of the race which was yesterday was a little cold in the morning so we had lots of layers on. I know this isn't very far but if you aren't used to running it is VERY far. I did manage to run almost the entire thing but I did walk for about 1/2 mile. It was a fun time though and I would love to try and do more of them. It will be a good motivator to try and beat my time-shouldn't be to hard it was not good at all. We had somebody take a pic of us but unfortunately I didn't check my camera to see how it turned out and I think she had pushed the power button and turned it off instead of taking a picture. There is an upcoming 1 mile in March that I want to do w/ Cameron. He is excited to try and do it.

christmas 2009

christmas Eve we went over to friends house for an appetizer party. We had a great time and it is fun to be able to spend the holidays w/ friends when you don't have family in town. We are fortunate to have such great friends down here.

The kiddos on christmas Eve.Poor Cody is wearing a "christmas sweater" but isn't he cute.

Cameron on Christmas morning, looking to see what Santa brought. Caitlin got the baby she wanted.

We had a great christmas and feel so blessed to have a healthy and happy family!!!

New Years Eve

Kris and I had a few friends over for New Years Eve. We had a good time but it was pretty laid back and the last of our guests left around 11.

Some of the kiddos calming down w/ a movie.

Here is who was left and awake in our house at midnight. Cameron was so excited to be awake for the New Year and it was fun that he spent it with us. Cody is conked out on our lap and Caitlin is on the floor in this pic.

Santa visits ballet

Santa came to visit the kids at the ballet class; Caitlin was terrified when he started talking and was screaming. She did love her gift from Ms. Lisa though. Isn't the crown super cute. My little ballet princess:)

He gave candy canes to all the other kids.

This was the look from Caitlin and the other girl when they saw Santa.

Cody's fight w/ a display stand at Fry's

This picture is a little blury; the bleeding has finally stopped. We were at Fry's and apparently Cody jumped on Cameron and he fell backwards and hit his head on a display shelf. I was holding him and I didn't realize it was anything more than a bump. One of the pharmacy workers came over and told me that he was bleeding and I realized my hands were full of blood-a little scary. They called 911 and the EMT's came and bandaged him up. They said that because the bleeding had slowed down, even if they transport him to the ER they would've sent him to Urgent Care for stitches so I decided to drive him to urgent care myself. All of the kids were crying because they were scared. Kris was called by somebody but didn't give him any information other than the impression that Cameron and Caitlin were at Fry's alone because I had to go w/ Cody in the ambulance. He made it to the urgent care before I did-lucky he didn't get a ticket on the way. Our good friend met me at Fry's and took Caitlin. I am so greatful to have people to call in an emergency. Cody ended up getting 5 staples in his head which need to stay in for 8 days. We have a friend w/ a staple remover so at least he shouldn't need to go back there to have them removed. No anesthetic and he did so well, he cried but took it like a champ. Cameron took this pic in the car on the way there.