sitting with santa

last weekend we took the kids to get their picture taken with santa at scrapdiva. connor has never sat with santa for pictures, let alone talk to him. while we were waiting our turn, i asked connor if he was going to sit on santa's lap, to which he quickly replied "no!" i thought "great. another year of no sitting with santa." when it was our turn, we all walked to the back of the store where santa waited. kaleigh went first, while connor stood aside and cautiously watched. she jumped off santa's lap and connor was coaxed towards santa. val and i were amazed when he started answering santa's questions and got up on his lap. it only took 4 1/2 years but it was worth it to see him comfortable enough to interact with santa!

when we were done, connor asked, "is the real santa going to come to our house on christmas?" i laughed having no idea he knew that wasn't the "real" santa. i told him that santa was so busy getting ready for christmas that he has friends to help him with things like santa pictures. :)

in the christmas spirit

it's not the christmas season if we haven't watched these two movies at least twice a week (or more) during december! they might not be a classic like "it's a wonderful life" but they sure are hilarious! haha!

christmas countdown begins

every thanksgiving morning begins our countdown to christmas. val makes homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch (he had a very late night this year getting them ready), macy's thanksgiving day parade is on tv, and after breakfast the tree goes up. since we got a new tv this summer, we had to find a new place to put the tree (not many choices in our small house) so we decided next to the fireplace would be perfect.

here's the before picture--kids on the computer, toys everywhere...

after--our colorful tree

mmm! mexican food

who doesn't love mexican food?!? after helping val put up christmas decorations in his office, we went out to dinner. it was mariachi night, an extra bonus for us! ha! connor covered his ears but still wanted to listen, val, kaleigh & i tried to think of songs they should play.

the band came by our table for requests. guess they don't do miley cyrus. ha!

all smiles before the trouble begins :)

daydreaming??

eating chips & guacamole...but notice the hamburger on her plate?

the rice and bean eater devouring some chips and avoiding mommy's camera

enjoying my week off!

along with loving my new sheets and pillows, my week has been so relaxing. sleeping in, reading a lot of books, staying up late, watching the kids find some creative things to play with! inspired by an episode of tom & jerry, kaleigh and connor turned some boxes into airplanes for some morning fun earlier this week.

kaleigh putting some extra details on her plane "the flying cheese"

connor patiently waiting for kaleigh to finish so the fun can begin

ready for take off!!

i'm in love!

yes, it's true. i'm in love...with my new sheets!!! oh my! for the first time in 36 years, i now have flannel sheets. and i must say the are the softest and warmest sheets ever! i didn't want to get out of bed this morning. i was so snug and cozy. i guess it's a good thing i'm on vacation or else you'd never see me. ha!

happy halloween

finally downloaded my pictures from halloween. we went to the culcasi's this year to trick-or-treat. tons of candy and tons of fun! the kids are already talking about costume ideas for next year! ha!

val and kaleigh carved some big pumpkins. notice the look

of concentration and determination on those two. the pumpkins were really

thick which made it more difficult to cut.

the finished pumpkins turned out super!

the candy corn witch and dash from the incredibles

connor with his candy. many pieces were tested for quality that night by connor himself! ha!

kaleigh filled up her bucket so she used her hat! candy anyone??

u-9 soccer championships

the super stars were in the championship playoff game against the queen cobras last night. a long soccer season was coming to an end. kaleigh's team was undefeated for the season going into the playoffs. they remained undefeated after the first 2 playoff games. last night they won to become u-9 girls champions earning their first place division trophy. woohoo superstars!!

before the game, both teams, along with their coaches and the referees, walked hand in hand across the field towards the parents to get introduced to the fans and get a little pep talk.

the winning team after the game with their trophies and big smiles

smile kaleigh!

kaleigh with her coaches

at the victory party--plenty of pizza, laughs and friends

stockton thunder goes pink

november 6th and 7th the stockton thunder went pink for breast cancer awareness. we took the kids with some friends and had great seats near the ice...rows 2 and 3! it was a sold out game which hopefully means a lot of money raised for the cause. the game went into overtime, sudden death and ended in a shoot out with the thunder losing by one. connor and kaleigh were so into the game, dancing and cheering when the thunder scored.

the fans wore pink as well as the players

connor cheering with his pink thunder sign

kaleigh deep in conversation with her friend. ha!

(she wanted me to delete that but i just couldn't)

the pink lights above

hard to tell but the ice was even pink!

school beautification day

last saturday morning was time well spent cleaning up the planter boxes at school. students and their families came to pull weeds and plant flowers in the main quad and in front of the school. the kids had a terrific time digging in the dirt and planting the flowers. it was no nice to see their excitement from all their hard work. coming to school on monday was a great surprise for those that weren't able to help out; they got to see a beautiful new quad area made possible from their peers. :)

before we started working

after we finished. doesn't it make you happy?!

connor liked digging in the dirt. he made some new friends that day.

kaleigh and val sure worked hard and had fun doing it.

connor watering some flowers. he's been too

cute asking, "mom, how are the flowers doing?"

sculpture garden

val and i spent a day in downtown minneapolis. target's headquarters are located there. it was so weird to see so many people walking around with their target i.d. badges on. i couldn't get over the fact that these people were all wearing jeans! i kept thinking "wow, target must be a relaxed company to work for." after walking around downtown, we went to the sculpture garden. it's an outdoor park with lots of art (your opinion) throughout.

mall of america

since val's conference was in minnesota, we were able to see one of minnesota's biggest tourist attractions...the mall of america. val wasn't too impressed, "it's just another mall." yes, but this mall has an amusement park inside! we did lots of walking around the mall, me more so than val since i entertained myself while he was at his conference. we went to the mall when we first flew in on thursday and no one was there. by saturday it was crazy! you would have thought it was christmastime with all the people inside. way too crowded for me but that didn't stop me from hanging out. :) the whole time i was at the mall i kept thinking i'd see robin sparkles (how i met your mother) ha! and i couldn't get her song out of my head!!! "let's all go to the mall...today!"

nickelodeon is responsible for the big amusement park in the middle of the mall

archiver's is a scrapbook store that i had to experience. i'm so glad i did. it was wonderful in there! spent a few hours and enough money there. i wish we had one in california.

twins/yankees playoffs

when we were in minnesota val wanted to see what the chances of getting tickets to the playoffs were for sunday. turned out it was no problem. tickets were $12 and the seats were pretty good. we became twins fans for the night. ha! unfortunately, it didn't help. the yankees won the game and moved on into the playoffs to the play the angels. val and i had a great time! this was the last baseball game to be played in the metrodome since the twins' new stadium is near completion. we'll have to come back to see a game in the new outdoor stadium. :)

before the game

the crowd outside waiting to get in

the grounds crew digging up home plate to take to the new stadium

after the game we watched the fans linger and grounds crew take the bases away

a new school year

another year of school started...five weeks ago!! it's been keeping me so busy. not only am i teaching but i am also the co-president of our school's pto with nikki this year. our stress level has been "taken up a few notches" to say the least. i am waiting for the moment when i can actually breathe a sigh relief of not having to be constantly on the go. ha! that'll be awhile. :)

kaleigh was so excited to start third grade and be in mrs. edelbacher's class. she's now on the other side of the school, which means i hardly get to see her. yes, that makes me a little sad. but she loves third grade and tells me that every day. i had to laugh when she said to me, "mom, thanks for giving me to mrs. edelbacher." if it makes you this happy, then "your welcome, kaleigh!"

kaleigh on the first day of third grade

i'm not proud of this

so this is what has been sitting on my living room floor for well over a week. it's all school stuff that i brought home at the beginning of summer so i can plan and get prepared...yeah, right! well it's been in the garage most of summer and just got brought in about a week or so ago. the plan was to go through it and organize things so i can start the new school year smoothly...and so it still sits there. every day i tell myself "i'm going to go through the piles today." and everyday i find something else to do. stuff that's really important like reading smutty books, doing laundry, surfing the internet, taking a nap...you know, "important" stuff! i think i'm in denial that summer is coming to an end. if i touch this stuff does it mean summer's over?! to be safe, i better just put it off one more day. ha!ha!

stockton ports baseball

we went to the stockton ports game with the culcasi family on sunday. it was a special day--splash's 5th birthday. all the other mascots in the area came to celebrate with splash and have fun entertaining the crowd that night.

it's your birthday. gonna party like it's your birthday.

the kids went crazy over all the mascots. taking pictures with them

and getting their autographs.

here's kaleigh with thor the stockton thunder hockey team's mascot.

waiting to get some attention from their favorite mascots.