So sad

I know my mom will love me for posting this picture. 

In September my mom and dad were in a ranger wreck.  They were so lucky to come away from it without any serious injuries.  2 months later and my mom's swelling on her cheek has still not come all the way down. 

Things like this make me realize that my parent's are not invincible.  And I hate that thought.  I can honestly say that my mom and dad are two of my best friends. 

I am so lucky to have parents who I respect and who love me no matter what. 

Addy gets baptized

 In September Addy got baptized.  Tricia brought her kids down from El Paso for the event. 

 We've missed them so much!

 It took Ruby a little while to warm up.  Molly did her best to make friends.

 Beautiful Addy:

 Afterwards we all went over to Darrel and Trina's for food, family and fun.

 Molly stole the show.  She showed us all of her "cheers".  I guess Emmy and Anna cheer and Molly has learned some of the routines.

 We were all mesmerized. 

I have honestly say I have never laughed so hard.

 She reminded me of Mary Katherine Gallagher on SNL. 

 I love this picture of Emmy and my mom.  I am so thankful for parents who are awesome grandparents.  Plus how cute is Tricia's outfit.  She seriously looked so cute.

We had such a great time spending the day with family.  I love my family so much and am so thankful for each and every one of them.

Random happenings

 September was a great month.  I loved seeing Max and Evan dressed up for NFL day at their school.  Max even let Evan wear one of his jerseys.  I love watching Max be a big brother.

 Evan is such a creative, fun loving kid.  His favorite play mate is his dad.  He makes Ian play war (complete with helmets), store (below Ian is "buying" one of Evan's toys) and every Sunday they have a drawing lesson.  There is nothing more attractive than a man who loves his children.

 Xander is loving high school (contrary to what he might say).  Below he is all dressed up for homecoming.  He is such a smart, funny kid. 

 It's no secret that Ben loves to read and it seems Max has caught the bug.  He LOVES Calvin and Hobbes.  It does my heart good to see it.

 In September Evan's class studied the Rainforest at school.  To end the unit, they went on a rainforest safari.  Evan was able to catch a snake :)  I'm so thankful Kim snapped a picture. 

One of the best parts of being a mom is watching my kids learn and grow. 

Lucky

Max at his preschool graduation

James and Ben at Disneyland 

Those pictures have nothing to do with this post.  They just make me happy so I wanted to share them :).

Working two jobs is wearing me out.  A while ago I was thinking that I had too much spare time on my hands.  Too much time to think.  I had the "inspiration" to get another job.  Inspiration may be defined as "hair-brained idea" in this instance.  I have struggled to make it work.  To spend time with my children and see to their needs.  And to spend time with my husband too (although most nights this involves me dozing on the couch before 10 pm). 

Once again I am thankful for the tender mercies of my Heavenly Father. 

For my mom - who is always there to listen.  Who never criticizes.  And is always up for a Mentalist marathon. 

For Drea - who always calls or texts me when I need it the most.  We always end up laughing our heads off and somehow all of my worries seem less after I talk to her.  She lightens my load. 

For my children - who clean, cook, play...who make my life worth living.

For my sister Kim - who is a second mother to my children and never complains about it. And always asks how she can help me.

For my work peeps - who let me be silly, who never judge and who lift me up. 

And especially for my husband.  He always picks up my slack.  In this past 11 months he has truly became my best friend in the world. 

I don't ever want to take for granted the tender mercies I receive every day. 

I am lucky.

Labor Day

 Darrel and Trina invited us over for Labor Day.  Xander opted to stay home but the rest of us went and had an awesome time. 

 Trina set up a slip and slide in the back yard.  The kids had a blast!

 Max, Ben and Addy played slip n slide football. 

 While Ian played some Song Pop.

 Darrel and Ian hanging out.

 The boys were excited to eat some watermelon.  I never buy it so they love it when they can get some.

Later, Darrel played a Jim Gaffigan special for Ian and I.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  I'm so thankful for Darrel and Trina and their kids.  Not only are they family but they are some of our best friends.  SCORE!

Random

 Ben goofs off.  Sometimes I am amazed how such an awesome boy can be mine. 

 Evan sleeping...again.

Max and Evan at the Lego store.  It's fun to just browse - all though Max can walk out without begging for any thing, Evan has a harder time. 

Still fishing

 We interrupt this blog to announce that Xander is still highly addicted to fishing. 

 Sometimes he even gets Michael to come along...

And he's getting so good that he always catches something.  Lately he's been posting on a fishing website about his interest in fly fishing.  As a result fishermen from all over the state have been sending him flies and one guy brought over a fly fishing pool.  It's been awesome!

Evan turns 6

Evan turned 6 on November 6th.  I told him it was his "magic" birthday and I did my best to make it a magical day for him.  We got Bosa donuts for his class before school and then stopped at the book fair and bought a book for his class library (it's a tradition at his school to give a book on their birthday).  The best was when we got to his class, the kids that were there immediately surrounded him and wished him happy birthday.  My shy little boy was grinning ear to ear.

Although I had to work in the morning, I was able to get the afternoon off to spend with the birthday boy.  As I walked up to get him after school, his aide saw me and immediately got my attention.  "You'll never believe it" she said.  "Evan played with another boy today!"  This may seem weird but Evan has struggled since the beginning of the year with shyness.  His teacher, aide and I have devised numerous solutions and schemes to get him to engage, but to no avail.  Today, a little boy named Zane (who concidentally he invited to his party) shouted, "C'mon birthday boy, let's go play!" at recess and Evan ran to play!  Numerous boys have asked him to play before and he has always refused.  So this was a MAJOR breakthrough!!!

On the way home he proceeded to tell me what a great day he had - filled with friends, donuts, story time...his teacher told me that it was his best day EVER.

At 5 we had a small party at Peter Piper for a few of his friends.  He included Aunt Kimmy and grandma and grandpa on his list :)  Kimmy came but unfortunately grandma and grandpa couldn't make it.  Grandma made up for it by taking him on a special birthday date on Saturday.  He misses grandma and grandpa so much and talks about them all of the time.

He had such a fun time at Peter Piper.  I had fun watching him run around and play with his friends.  He had such a great day.

Facts about Evan:

favorite color:  orange
favorite food:  pizza or hamburger
favorite treat:  starbursts
favorite show:  Spongebob or Ninja Turtles
favorite(s) thing to do:  crafts, make books, give mom, dad or Ben tests

For his birthday my mom got him a wallet and he LOVES it.  Ian made him a pretend drivers license and Evan loves to put cards and money in his wallet.  It is so cute.

Interesting facts about Evan:

He routinely falls asleep eating or in the car

 He loves to draw.  Below is a picture of him with his self portrait:

 He always is creating or making something.  Below is the beard he taped on his face.  Him and Max like to make disguises :)  Currently we have no tape or glue in the house - Evan has used it all. 

 For his birthday he really wanted a Spongebob movie.  He kept telling me it was in aisle 7 at Wal Mart. :)  Below he is opening the movie. 

 Pictures from his party:

Evan's friend Sam won the jackpot! 

Michael's 4th grade teacher's son is one of Evan's friends and attended the party.  I had to get a picture.  Coincidentally she was Max's second grade teacher too

Sam wins the jackpot for a second time.  He ended up with more than 1,000 tickets

Ben won the jackpot for Evan :)

Ruby, Ro and Addy signing a birthday t-shirt for Evan

Last year at his birthday one of his friends blew out his candles.  Well, Evan did not forget and kept mentioning it all day - how Kelson blew out his candles and this year he wanted to blow them out.  Well, wish granted! 

Happy birthday Evan!