Arizona Science Center

 Today I had the opportunity to go with Case and his second grade class to the Arizona Science Center.  I love being able to be a helper on field trips because I love to see how my kids interact with the other kids.  I also like to see who their friends are.  It was fun and a little sad going on this field trip today.  I could tell that Case is still trying to figure out where he fits in with the other boys in his grade.  It was hard for me as the mom to not know any of the other parents on the field trip.  It gave me a sense of how he must feel each day when he goes to school.  Bottom line is, I loved being there with Case and seeing him interact with his new friends. His teacher is awesome and he has made some nice, kind friends.  My hope is that as time goes on, he will start to enjoy his new school and the friends he is making.

 The bus ride is always exciting.  Here is Case with his two friends Allen and Chandler.  They were super sweet boys.  I was lucky to be with these 3 cute boys.

 The Science Center has changed a bit since I was there last.  There are lots of Lego areas for the kids.  Needless to say, Case had a ball.

 The bed of nails is always a highlight.

 Case was able to pull himself up on this pulley.  He is a strong dude.

 Who knew he could climb walls!

 These boys literally spent most of the field trip in the Lego room.  

 They had a ball building this huge Lego wall.

Chandler, Allen and Case behind the Lego wall.  Thanks for letting me go on the field trip with you today Case.  You are a great kid and I love you so much.  I love that you still think I'm cool enough to go places with you.

The Thing I Hate Most About Christmas

It's no secret that the thing I hate most about Christmas is taking a family picture for our Christmas cards. Why is this such a difficult and daunting task for me?  Is it trying to figure out what everyone should wear?  Is it hoping no one will end up with a black eye or road rash down their face the day of the picture?  Maybe it's the stress of keeping everyone clean for an hour and a half while we try for the perfect shot.  Oh I know, maybe worrying about getting haircuts and roots touched up puts me over the top.  Could it be that everyone including my husband is grouchy the day we are taking the picture? I have no idea what the problem is but I will tell ya that we survived it again this year.  We are done and moving on to other things.  I am so happy this task is over for another year and now I am excited to see what my darling photographer Ashley does with the cute shots she got.  

Gingerbread Houses At The Cabin

 The day after Thanksgiving I headed up to the cabin with the kiddos. We were more then ready for a weekend of relaxing and playing.  The highlight was making gingerbread houses.  My kids are actually getting old enough to be able to do some of the frosting decorations by themselves. It made things much easier for me and those who usually have to help me. 

 Lots of concentrating going on with these gingerbread houses.

 Brody really gets into the decorating.  He is so creative and good with his hands.

 Berkley's favorite part was eating the candy off the gingerbread house.  

 Super cute house Brody!

 Ledger got most of the frosting on his shirt.

 Case just piles everything on the house and is happy.

 Thanks for your help Sugar!

The Gingerbread village.  So fun!

Thanksgiving In Arizona

 Can you believe this is Thanksgiving Day?  It has been record heat around here and I am so sick of it. I need a jacket, layers of clothes and my BOOTS!  Instead, we got an awesome Thanksgiving lunch at Sugar's and an afternoon at her pool.  I'm not complaining cause as you will see, we had a ball with the cousins.  

 Ledger playing around in the pool.

 Brody and Aiden having a squirt gun war with cousin Madison.

 I think Berkley is stuck in the floaty.

 Case's supermodel picture.

 Cousin Madison sure is strong.  

Look how high Ledger is in these pictures.  HILARIOUS!

Tradition

 I can't believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  I am so excited and ready for time off of school and a weekend at the cabin. Tonight, we met at El Charro for our traditional, "Night Before Thanksgiving" dinner.  This has been a tradition in our family for years and it is almost as fun as the actual Thanksgiving dinner.  Although we were missing the Hildebrand family, we enjoyed a loud and crazy night of mexican food.

Brody and Aiden 

Sarah, Aunt Michel and baby Harrison

Miss B. and Presley

H and Cave

Paisley and Emily

Grandma and Grandpa

We Love Our Veterans

 To celebrate Veteran's Day this year, we took my grandparents to Tempe Marketplace for lunch at Smashburger and then to see the movie Wreck It Ralph.

 Brody helping GG from the car to Smashburger.

 Case helping GPa.

 I love this picture of my grandpa in his purple heart hat.  

 My Grandma looking beautiful as usual.

 Waiting for our Smashburgers!

Berkley was loving her time with GPa.  They were giggling and laughing the whole time!

Flag Football Fall 2012

 We finished our flag football season today.  It was a great season for Case and Ledger.  Brody's season we could have done without.  I can't stand that this league does a 9-11 age group....especially since I have a 9 year old.  It's too big of an age span for kids to play in together. 

So we had 6 football games today.  Ledger's team ended up winning the 5-6 division which was so fun.  These 2 coaches are seriously the best coaches ever.  They were so positive and kind.  I looooved having them as coaches, they deserved to win!

Ledger loved having Little E. on his team again this year.  This is a cute group of boys.

Run Ledger! RUN!!!

Keep going Ledger!!

Checking out his grass stained knee!

Coach Kelly was awesome too.  Although he called Case "Wes" for most of the season, Case loved having him as a coach.  We laughed for weeks about this name mix up because when I asked Case why he never told his coach that his name was "Case" he told me, "Cause I kinda like the name Wes Mom." I think Case is considering a permanent name change on his birth certificate.  

This Bronco team was fun to play with.  Although they didn't have a winning season, they had fun and learned a ton!

Wes loves flag football.  He is really good at the sport.

 Wes played both offense and defense this year which was fun for him and us.

This is really the only picture of Brody I have from the tournament.  He struggles with flag football so he doesn't get a lot of playing time.  He loves playing with a team and is a good sport about the game.  I am really proud of him for giving it his all at practice and at the games.  

Sugar and Nanny were able to come watch some of the games during the tournament.  Although it was freezing cold, we enjoyed our last games of the season.