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?"